EXCLUSIVE: Thousands of NHS workers forced to resign due to ill health
Nearly three thousand NHS Scotland employees have left their jobs due to ill health since the Covid-19 pandemic, the Glasgow Standard can reveal.
A series of Freedom of Information requests have found that over the last five years; 2,786 workers had their contracts terminated or took early retirement due to health issues. The data covers 12 of Scotland’s 14 regional NHS boards.
Increase of 267% in NHS dismissal rate
1171 leavers, or more than 42%, worked at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. 459 people took ‘ill health retirement’, with an additional 712 leaving their positions.
By comparison, between 2016 and 2019, 246 people quit their jobs at the health board due to sickness.
902 workers retired or were dismissed in the four years following the pandemic, an increase of 267%.
The situation is analogous in other health boards, if less acute. 303 workers left their jobs at NHS Ayrshire and Arran, while 398 at NHS Lanarkshire and 269 at NHS Lothian terminated their contracts.
Scottish Government statistics tell a similar story. The NHS Scotland sickness absence rate has risen from 4.67% in 2021 to 6.21% last year.
NHS ‘in crisis’, says union
UNISON Scotland co-lead for health Matt McLaughlin said the figures demonstrate how the NHS is in “crisis”:
He told the Glasgow Standard: “It’s short staffed with the longest waiting lists and waiting times since devolution. Working in the health service is a mentally and physically demanding.
“And of-course, NHS staff who are sick are also waiting for treatment, meaning they can’t get back to work to treat others.”
McLaughlin added: “The Scottish Government must invest in the NHS and sort out its staffing crisis. This will support more staff to continue to work in the health service for longer.”
Experts have blamed post-Covid syndrome (also known as Long Covid) for the rise in ill health among workers.
According to a King’s College London (KCL) report last autumn, 33% of surveyed healthcare workers in England reported symptoms consistent with Long Covid, which includes feelings of anxiety, fatigue, and cognitive difficulties.
Despite this, doctors have diagnosed just 7.4% of staff with the illness.
Similarly our investigation found that the official number of NHS workers who left their jobs due to Long Covid symptoms remains low.
“PCS can have a dramatic impact on a person’s day to day life”, said Dr Sharon Stevelink, a reader in epidemiology who co-authored the KCL study.
Covid suit against NHS England
More than 300 healthcare workers are suing NHS boards in England and Wales over their Long Covid symptoms.
They have accused the government of failing to provide adequate protection from the disease during the pandemic.
One of the claimants, Rachel Hext, spoke to Context in December.
She said that her diagnosis was “life changing.”
“People are really suffering financially. Some are living in poverty.
“It’s been like hero to zero,” the nurse added. “We were clapped on doorsteps one moment, and abandoned the next.
“I’ve lost my health, my career, very much my identity. That’s before you even start on the financial implications.”
