Daily call to absent staff leads to drop in sick days

The number of days off sick taken by Scottish health workers has fallen by half after bosses started phoning them at home every day they were absent.

Managers at NHS Lanarkshire acted after absence levels hit 6.75 per cent - almost three times the Scottish average of 2.4 per cent and more the double the private-sector figure of 2.8 per cent.

The authority spent 265,000 to set up a new sickness absence management service, but in just one year they have saved the health service nearly 2 million and slashed the sickness absence rate to 3.61 per cent.

The scheme has been so successful it is to be rolled out elsewhere in Scotland, starting with Tayside.

Under the new scheme, "sick" workers feel they cannot leave the house as they know the local NHS's human resources department will be phoning to ask about their health. The result has been a marked improvement in the health of employees.

The average number of days off taken by workers suffering from "depression" and "stress" has fallen from more than 70 days to 34 days.

Managers insist NHS Lanarkshire is a caring employer that calls sick workers to inquire after their health rather than make them feel guilty. But some employees have complained.

An NHS Lanarkshire spokesman said: "The service engages with the staff member from the first day of absence, utilising a case management model to support the staff member throughout their period of absence until their return to work."

The board's crackdown was welcomed by health secretary Nicola Sturgeon.

She said: "Increasing the availability of staff to provide services has positive impacts on the moral of the whole workforce and ultimately results in improvements in the quality of care being provided."