NHS 24 staff to get their own health line in bid to cut soaring absentee rates

Published on Saturday 22 March 2008 18:46

NHS 24 is set to get its own helpline to deal with alarming rates of absenteeism in the health hotline service.

Managers at the under-fire health line are considering the move to tackle the worst absenteeism rate of any major Scottish public organisation. NHS 24 employees are off work for an average of 18 days a year, more than twice the average for other organisations.

NHS 24 managers have not costed the plan yet, but a similar pilot at East Ayrshire Council was calculated at 28,000.

The organisation has defended the scheme on grounds of "confidentiality" for employees so they will not have to discuss their symptoms with colleagues. Critics claim the need for the plan shows the flaws in the idea behind NHS 24.

The plan is contained in a document on managing absenteeism in NHS 24, obtained under Freedom of Information legislation. Written last autumn, it details a number of options for reducing absentee rates.

It said: "A six-month pilot of a central telephone number for staff reporting sickness absence will be manned externally by professional occupational health nurses."

But the move has enraged critics of the service, which has come under fire for leaving patients hanging on the line waiting to speak to a nurse and for dispensing poor advice.

Dr Jean Turner, of the Scotland Patients Association, said: "This simply shows the inherent problem of NHS 24. There are many good people who work for it and they are very dedicated, but they are under immense pressure because it is impossible to reliably diagnose a person over the phone.

"And so you will do your best and put the phone down and always be wondering whether you got things right and that will be immensely stressful."

Scottish Conservative health spokeswoman, Mary Scanlon, said: "I have visited NHS 24 and I know that they have many dedicated people who do a good job when faced with a lot of stress, but it is wrong to give them a special service which is not available to other people in the health service.

"There are front-line staff in accident and emergency wards who have to deal with abuse and violence and they are not getting this kind of service."

However, NHS 24 defended the plan. A spokeswoman said: "It is for staff confidentiality, so that they are not having to discuss their situation with colleagues. The plan is still under consideration.

"We are working on getting our absence levels down."