Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average number of working days lost to sickness absence per full-time equivalent member of staff was in (a) the Department and (b) its executive agencies in the last year; and how many formal performance warnings were issued to staff whose absence exceeded departmental triggers.

The average number of working days lost per full-time equivalent member of staff in the Department in the period between October 2024 and September 2025, the most recent period for which records are available, was 5.12.

The average number of working days lost per full-time equivalent member of staff in the executive agencies over the same period was 8.22 in the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and 5.71 in the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

There were no formal performance warnings issued against civil servants in the Department or the UKHSA between 1 December 2024 and 30 November 2025 where the civil servant was also issued a formal attendance warning for exceeding sickness trigger points.

There were four formal performance warnings issues to staff in the MHRA whose absence exceeded departmental triggers.