Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he ia taking to reduce staff sickness absences amongst NHS staff.

NHS England publishes monthly data on sickness absence rates for staff working in the National Health Service. This is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-sickness-absence-rates

However, data on the duration of the absence is not available.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, Staff Treatment Hubs will be rolled out to ensure staff have access to high quality support for occupational health. This will include support for mental health and back conditions which are the main drivers of sickness absence in the NHS.

The commitment to Staff Treatment Hubs draws on various evidence sources including the NHS England internal Staff Treatment Access Review which demonstrated the clear productivity and economic argument for investing in the health of our NHS staff, particularly focusing on mental health and musculoskeletal treatment services.

We will also work with the Social Partnership Forum to introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment, covering issues such as access to healthy meals, support to work healthily and flexibly, and tackling violence, racism, and sexual harassment in the workplace.