Sickness absence in the NHS: January to March 2023
Data on sickness absence rates for directly employed NHS staff for January to March 2023.
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In this page
Introduction
This statistical release presents official statistics about sickness absence of staff in the NHS in Wales. New information is shown for the quarter that ended on 31 March 2023 and data for October to December 2022 has been revised.
The data is sourced from the NHS Electronic Staff Record provided by Health Education and Improvement Wales.
All data included in this release is published on StatsWales.
Main points
Longer-term sickness absence rates are measured by taking the average sickness rate for the 12 months prior to the last day of each reference month.
- the 12-month average sickness absence rate has been on an upward trend since 2018; the upward trend increased more rapidly during 2021 and 2022 but has levelled off and has started to decrease in recent quarters.
- in the 12 months ending 31 March 2023, the average sickness absence rate was 6.6%, 0.1 percentage points lower than the previous 12 month period (ending 31 March 2022) and 1.2 percentage points higher than in the 12 month period ending 31 March 2014
While monthly data is published, short-term trends are measured by using the sickness absence rate in each quarter, to reduce some of the monthly variations. The latest data for the quarter which ended on 31 March 2023 shows:
- the sickness absence rate was 6.3%, a decrease of 1.0 percentage point compared to the same quarter last year (ending 31 March 2022)
- when comparing NHS organisations, the rate ranged from 8.5% in the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust to 3.0% in NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership and Health Education and Improvement Wales
- when comparing staff groups, the rate ranged from 9.9% for health care assistants and other support staff to 2.1% for medical and dental staff
Trends in the sickness absence rate
Figure 1: Trends in sickness absence rates in NHS Wales by month, March 2014 to March 2023
Description of Figure 1: Line chart showing that the sickness absence rate varies from month-to-month but has been on a broadly upward trend since 2018. The increases were larger during 2021 and early 2022; however, the trend has levelled off and has started to decrease in recent months.
Source: Electronic Staff Record, Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW)
Percentage of NHS staff absent by organisation on StatsWales
Sickness absence shows seasonal variation throughout the year with lower rates in summer and higher rates in winter. To provide more stable analysis of longer-term changes, a 12-month moving average is shown in Figure 1.
The 12-month moving average has been increasing over the long term and reached its highest peak on record (7.0%) for both 12-month periods ending on 31 July and 31 August 2022. More recently the trend has levelled off and has started to decrease.
The single month sickness absence rate peaked in December 2022 (7.9%), January 2022 (7.7%), and April 2020 (7.5%). The high rates in these months coincided with waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.
NHS staff who are self-isolating, including shielding staff (shielding advice was paused from 1 April 2021), are not counted as being on sick absence and are therefore not included in these sickness absence rates.
Sickness absence rate by NHS organisation
Figure 2: Sickness absence rates by NHS Wales organisation, quarter that ended on 31 March 2023 compared to the same quarter in the previous year
Description of Figure 2: Bar chart showing that sickness absence rates vary widely by NHS organisation and are higher among the Welsh Ambulance Services Trust and health boards.
Source: Electronic Staff Record, Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW)
Percentage of NHS staff absent by organisation on StatsWales
In the quarter that ended 31 March 2023, sickness absence rates were lower in all but one of the 13 NHS organisations when compared with the same quarter in the previous year.
The rate increased in Health Education and Improvement Wales; however, this organisation has the joint lowest rate for the quarter that ended on 31 March 2023.
The Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust had the highest sickness absence rate (8.5%) of all NHS organisations. However, it also had the largest decrease in sickness absence rate (3.3 percentage points) compared to the same quarter in the previous year.
The lowest sickness absence rates were in NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (3.0%), Health Education and Improvement Wales (3.0%) and Digital Health and Care Wales (3.1%).
There was some variation between the local health boards, with the highest sickness absence rate in Swansea Bay (7.2%) and the lowest rate in Powys (5.2%).
Sickness absence rate by staff group
Figure 3: Sickness absence rates by NHS Wales staff group, quarter that ended on 31 March 2023 compared to same quarter in the previous year
Description of Figure 3: Bar chart showing that sickness absence rate varied widely between different staff groups, with the rate in the healthcare assistants and support staff and ambulance staff groups nearly five times greater than in medical and dental.
Source: Electronic Staff Record, Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW)
Percentage of NHS staff absent by staff group on StatsWales
In the quarter that ended 31 March 2023, sickness absence was lower for all staff groups when compared to the same quarter in the previous year.
Health care assistants and other support staff had the highest sickness absence rate (9.9%). Medical and dental staff had the lowest sickness absence rate (2.1%) and has since data was first collected in 2009.
The largest quarterly sickness absence rate change was for ambulance staff which decreased by 4.3 percentage points, from 13.6% to 9.2%.
Sickness absence rate by staff group and local health board
Figure 4: Medical and dental staff, January to March 2023
Description of Figure 4: Bar chart showing that the sickness absence rate for medical and dental staff varies by local health board, but the rates for all health boards are within 1.1 percentage points higher or lower than the combined health board average.
Source: Electronic Staff Record, Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW)
Percentage of NHS staff absent by staff group on StatsWales
The sickness absence rate among medical and dental staff for the combined health boards was 2.2%. There was some variation by health board with the rate in Powys 1.5 percentage points higher than in Aneurin Bevan.
Figure 5: Nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff, January to March 2023
Description of Figure 5: Bar chart showing that the sickness absence rate for nurses, midwives and health visitors varies between health boards but, all are within a percentage point higher or lower than the combined health board average, with the exception of Powys which has a lower rate.
Source: Electronic Staff Record, Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW)
Percentage of NHS staff absent by staff group on StatsWales
The sickness absence rate among nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff for the combined health boards was 7.5%. There was some variation by health board with the rate in Powys 2.3 percentage points lower than in Cardiff and Vale.
Figure 6: Scientific, therapeutic and technical staff, January to March 2023
Description of Figure 6: Bar chart showing that the sickness absence rate for scientific, therapeutic and technical staff are similar for most health boards. Rates for all health boards, except Powys, are within a percentage point higher or lower than the combined health board average.
Source: Electronic Staff Record, Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW)
Percentage of NHS staff absent by staff group on StatsWales
The sickness absence rate among scientific, therapeutic and technical staff for the combined health boards was 5.0%. There was some variation by health board with the rate in Swansea Bay 2.5 percentage points higher than in Powys.
Figure 7: Administration, estates and general payments staff, January to March 2023
Description of Figure 7: Bar chart showing that the sickness absence rate for administration, estates and general payments staff varies between health boards, but all are within a percentage point higher or lower than the combined health board average.
Source: Electronic Staff Record, Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW)
Percentage of NHS staff absent by staff group on StatsWales
The sickness absence rate among administration and estates staff for the combined health boards was 5.7%. There was some variation by health board with the rate in Swansea Bay 1.5 percentage points higher than in Powys.
Figure 8: Healthcare assistants and support staff, January to March 2023
Description of Figure 8: Bar chart showing the sickness absence rate for healthcare assistants and support staff varies more between health boards than other staff groups. The rates in Cwm Taf Morgannwg and Swansea Bay were nearly double the rate in Powys.
Source: Electronic Staff Record, Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW)
Percentage of NHS staff absent by staff group on StatsWales
The sickness absence rate among healthcare assistants and support staff for the combined health boards was 10.0%. The rate in most health boards was within 1.9 percentage points of the combined local health board average; however, the rate ranged from 11.9% in Cwm Taf Morgannwg to 6.4% in Powys.
Quality and methodology information
The data is sourced from the NHS Electronic Staff Record provided by Health Education and Improvement Wales. Further information is available in the quality report.
The percentages in this release are rounded to the nearest 0.1. Percentage point changes are calculated based on the unrounded numbers.
Data on the number of Staff directly employed by the NHS Wales (also known as the NHS staff census data) is published on a quarterly basis. Note that there are minor differences in how staff groups are defined between the two releases. These are detailed in the quality report.
In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, a separate data collection of management information about the sickness absence of NHS staff (StatsWales) was established. The management information provided a more timely indication of sickness absence rates, but was not collected via the same method as data in this statistical release and was not subject to the same level of quality assurance. For these reasons, the data in the two collections will differ and the official statistics in this release should continue to be considered the authoritative source of data on sickness absence of NHS Wales staff.
Well-being of Future Generations Act (WFG)
The Well-being of Future Generations Act 2015 is about improving the social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing of Wales. The Act puts in place seven wellbeing goals for Wales. These are for a more equal, prosperous, resilient, healthier and globally responsible Wales, with cohesive communities and a vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language. Under section (10)(1) of the Act, the Welsh Ministers must (a) publish indicators (“national indicators”) that must be applied for the purpose of measuring progress towards the achievement of the wellbeing goals, and (b) lay a copy of the national indicators before Senedd Cymru. Under section 10(8) of the Well-being of Future Generations Act, where the Welsh Ministers revise the national indicators, they must as soon as reasonably practicable (a) publish the indicators as revised and (b) lay a copy of them before the Senedd. These national indicators were laid before the Senedd in 2021. The indicators laid on 14 December 2021 replace the set laid on 16 March 2016.
Information on the indicators, along with narratives for each of the wellbeing goals and associated technical information is available in the Well-being of Wales report.
Further information on the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.
The statistics included in this release could also provide supporting narrative to the national indicators and be used by public services boards in relation to their local wellbeing assessments and local wellbeing plans.