Hundreds face sack as NHS declares war on 'sickie' slackers

NHS Lothian is threatening to dismiss anyone caught not coming to work without good reason, after identifying 288 employees with the worst attendance records.

It has warned that a "vast proportion" of these workers are likely to be sacked as part of a drive to save the health board some 3.5 million a year.

The health board's crackdown is believed to be the biggest ever by a Scottish public-sector body.

It has emerged days after it was revealed that NHS staff in Scotland have taken almost five million days off work sick in the past three years.

Alan Boyter, the health board's director of human resources, was unapologetic about the "aggressive" nature of the campaign. He said: "The message we want to get out is this - if you are pulling sickies or not bothering to come to work, we are coming after you.

"Just now we have the 288 with the worst attendance. A sizeable proportion of them will be dismissed. As a director of human resources, why would I not want to lose someone who has been off on six separate occasions in the past year, against someone who hasn't had a sick day in 20 years?"

The investigation was launched this year after sickness rates soared to 6 per cent, one of the highest in the country. It has now dropped to 4 per cent.

• Analysis: Public sector more geared up to supporting staff who are ill

Union leaders have backed the clampdown, insisting it will be supported by the majority of the 28,000-strong workforce.

Mr Boyter added: "We want to make it clear to staff who have genuinely been unwell that they will be fully supported. However, anyone found to be claiming to be off sick when they are not ill will be dismissed.

"The vast majority of our employees work very hard and go the extra mile to provide services. That's why it's important that we investigate those who are not genuinely unwell, but who just decide not to come into work."

New research has found health service workers in Scotland take an average of 11 days off work due to illness each year. The figure is almost double the 5.9 days taken off sick by the average worker in the UK, according to a survey by the Confederation of British Industry.

David Lonsdale, assistant director of CBI Scotland, said: "Workplace absences cost the economy 17 billion last year. Any employer, in the public or the private sector, doesn't want genuinely ill staff dragging themselves into work when they ought to be at home recovering."However, we have long-standing concerns about higher absence rates in the public sector."

David Forbes, Unison's Edinburgh regional organiser, said: "With anyone who is genuinely sick, we will defend their right to sick pay to the bitter end.

"But we will not support people who are at it; in those cases the people who work with them - who we also represent - get brassed off. This is an attempt to address that."