Impact of pandemic still a cause of anxiety for Blackpool nurses

The figures for December 2022, show an increase compared to a sickness rate of around seven per cent in the previous month.

The continuing impact of the Covid pandemic has been blamed for escalating pressure among health workers.

But measures are being taken to support staff with 200 health and wellbeing support champions now in place at the Blackpool hospitals trust.

Louise Ludgrove, executive director of people and culture at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, told a meeting of the board: “We’re running HR clinics in wards where there is the highest sickness to support managers.

“The highest percentage by a long way of sickness relates to anxiety and that is not just in Blackpool, that’s the same across the country.

“It is very indicative of the time everyone has been through with Covid and the pressure put on the system, and it has become a very intense environment in which to work.

“Any of us who walk around the hospital will have seen the level of pressure that our staff are under.”

The meeting also heard the cost of using agency staff had reached £32m for the last financial year, up until the end of January, which represents nine per cent of the total wage bill.

The target for next year would be to bring this down to 3.7 per cent, requiring the board to focus more strongly on its recruitment programme.

It currently takes around 10 weeks to recruit a new member of staff, including them having to give their notice at their previous job, with the vacancy rate among nursing and midwifery staff currently around 4.7 per cent.

Steve Fogg, chairman of the BTH NHS Foundation Trust, said: “It may be helpful at our next board meeting to get an update on recruitment.

“I am thinking about the targets, information on the overall plan and the priorities the board should be aware of.

“Also to see where a growth in recruitment can have a positive effect on finances.”