Sickness absence in the NHS: October to December 2019

In response to the current COVID-19 pandemic, we are collecting additional and more timely data on sickness absence. This has not been included here as this report only covers the period up to the quarter ending 31 December 2019. This additional data is NHS Wales management information; it is not collected on the same basis as that published in this quarterly release and is not currently considered robust enough for publication. Information on coronavirus and NHS activity and capacity is published in a weekly update.

Main points

• Sickness absence was 5.9%, up 0.4 percentage point from the same period in 2018.
• The Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust had the highest sickness absence, 7.5%.
• Health Education and Improvement Wales Special Health Authority had the lowest sickness absence, 3.1%.
• The staff group with the highest sickness absence was the Healthcare Assistants and other support workers staff group, 8.6%.
• The staff group with the lowest sickness absence was the Medical and Dental staff group, 2.1%.