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UK - Peterborough city council staff's 68 years of sickies in 12 months

Pathfinder

Pathfinder

Editor, Senior Moderator
Peterborough city council staff's 68 years of sickies in 12 months

<!-- font resizer -->By Victoria Ward 23/04/2010

A council came under fire yesterday when it emerged its staff took a total of 68 years off work in one year.

The 2,123 workers at Peterborough city council took 25,082 sick days from April 2009 to March 2010.

Of these, 4,086 days were because of colds and flu and 4,886 days were due to depression, stress, anxiety and fatigue.

The figures mean each sick employee took an average 11.8 days off.
John Bridge, chief executive of Peterborough Chamber of Commerce said:

"Most people will have been genuinely ill when taking time off but there could be a minority who take advantage of the situation so it needs close monitoring."


The council said the swine flu outbreak was partly to blame. A spokeswoman said: "Previously Peterborough has achieved average or below figures. In 2009-10 absences occurred as a result of swine flu.

"In common with other local authorities, the average age of employees is higher than in the private sector and absence increases as employee age increases.

"High sickness rates do occur in work activity such as physical outdoor work and social care due to the nature of the occupations involved."
Local Unison official Mark Burn said his union was working to reduce the figures.

National statistics for sick days last year showed an average of 9.6 days for each council worker, compared with a private sector average of 6.4 days.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-st...ears-of-sickies-in-12-months-115875-22205632/
 
Re: UK - Peterborough city council staff's 68 years of sickies in 12 months

Extra 21,473 patients cause Primary care trust problems

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<!-- Main Editorial Image --><!-- Editorial section left Start -->By ADAM UREN
Published on Mon Apr 26 14:21:08 BST 2010


<!--PSTYLE=WINT Web Intro-->A NURSES? leader has criticised cash crisis-hit health bosses in Peterborough for failing to anticipate a huge surge in patient numbers.

Tony Durcan, professional officer for the Royal College of Nursing in Cambridgeshire, said an unexpected extra 21,473 patients who used health services funded by NHS Peterborough over the last year ? helping to send the health agency into the red ? should have been forecast.

He warned the result had been to increase the strain on nursing staff.
Primary care trust NHS Peterborough is currently ?11.8 million in the red and has brought in a team of financial experts to hammer out a cost-cutting programme worth ?27 million for the next 12 months.

It has blamed the crisis largely on the unexpected soaring number of patients who needed outpatient, admissions and accident and emergency services in 2009/10.

The trust funds a number of treatments which are provided at six hospitals in Peterborough, Stamford, Cambridge, Leicester and London, but costs for individual patients can vary widely from ?60 to ?10,000.

Figures released by the trust show the number of patients requiring outpatient services, where a person is treated at hospital but not admitted, rose from 203,196 in 2008/09 to a projected 220,903 in 2009/10 ? a rise of 17,707.

Meanwhile, admitted patients ? those who need planned treatments such as hip operations and other surgery ? rose by 2,890 from 36,450 to an estimated 39,340.

And A&E use went up by 876 to 39,543.

Mr Durcan said: ?The number of patients using these services rises year on year, so the reason for the overspend is financial mismanagement due to the fact they have not been able to put together a budget to anticipate this.

?We are dealing with more patients than ever, so we are increasing the burden on our working staff.?

He added: ?We need more nurses and better training for nurses to cope
with the demand.?

However, bosses of Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Trust, which provide a number of services for the primary care trust, say patient demand can vary.

Rowena Barnes, the hospital trust?s chief operating officer, said: ?The number of people who were injured as a result of falling on the ice and snow during the cold winter period increased admissions to the accident and emergency department.?

She added: ?Outbreaks of illnesses such as Norovirus, of which there have been a number in the community recently, can also affect the number of people who need to attend hospital and the length of their stay.?

A spokesperson for NHS Peterborough said the reasons for the surge in patient numbers would be revealed at the trust?s next board meeting on May 5.

/.../
http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/...ts_cause_primary_care_trust_problems_1_622032
 
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