Covid absences in the NHS nearly twice last year's level

NHS staff absences caused by Covid-19 are estimated to be nearly double what they were in the first half of 2021, depleting care teams by up to 50 per cent and putting lives at risk, officials warn.

- SAMUEL LOVETT

Tens of thousands of doctors, nurses and hospital staff have been forced out of work each day in the past six months because of Covid, bringing widespread disruption to services and undermining efforts to tackle the backlog, health leaders say.

The absence figures come just days after a parliamentary report warned that the NHS and the social care sector are facing the “greatest workforce crisis” in their history, adding that “persistent understaffig poses a serious risk to staff and patient safety in routine and emergency care”.

Data shared with The Independent by GoodShape, an employee wellbeing and performance analysis company, shows that 2,745,109 working days were lost between January and June because of Covid, costing the taxpayer £423m. Over the same period in 2021, a total of 1,583,169 working days were lost, at a cost of £237m. The NHS currently employs 1.3 million staff.

Offiials are also concerned about the disruptive impact that Covid will continue to have on the NHS in the months ahead, as efforts are made to work through the health service’s backlog, with a record-breaking 6.6 million patients waiting for treatment. NHS Providers, which represents trusts throughout England, said absences and workforce shortages were having “a knock-on effect on the NHS’s efforts to bring down waiting lists and to meet ever-growing demand across the health and care system”.