Long-term sickness absence in an NHS teaching hospital

This study was carried out to investigate the incidence andcauses of long-term sickness absence in an NHS teaching hospitaland to explore the role of the Occupational Health Service (OHS)in the management of long-term absence. Examination of attendancerecords of non-medical staff revealed an annual loss of 20,772days due to spells of absence lasting 30 calendar days or more,(incidence 0.0528/WTE employees/year, prevalence 5.53 days long-termabsence/WTE employee/year). A self-administered questionnairewas sent to 190 staff who had taken long-term absence duringthe previous 12 months. The response rate was 75%. Musculoskeletalproblems and back pain in particular were the main reasons forabsence, accounting for 30% of total days lost. Work-relatedillness made an important contribution with a third of thosewith musculoskeletal and a quarter of those with mental illnessattributing the reason for their absence to work. Many staffreported non-medical factors such as delays in waiting for treatmentand anxiety about return to work which prevented them from returningto work sooner. Only a minority of staff had attended OHS andreferral was often delayed. OHS may have an important role toplay in both prevention and management of long-term absenceby early assessment and intervention such as expediting treatmentor arranging rehabilitation programmes. However in order tobe effective, a clear policy to encourage early and consistentreferral is required.