NHS: Early Retirement and Sick Leave

(asked on 22nd November 2018) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS staff (a) took early retirement and (b) were on long-term sick leave in the last three years for which figures are available; what the average length of long-term sick leave taken by NHS staff was in that period; and whether staff on long-term sick leave receive full or part pay.


Answered by
Stephen Hammond Portrait
Stephen Hammond
This question was answered on 29th November 2018

NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) workforce statistics for England. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups, but not staff working in primary care or in general practitioner surgeries, local authorities or other providers.

The following table shows the number people who have stated that they have taken voluntary early retirement for the last three years and latest available data for 2018/19, headcount:

2015/16

2016/17

2017/18

12018/19

Voluntary early retirement

3,229

3,131

3,000

705

Source: NHS Digital, National Health Service HCHS workforce statistics

Note:

1This only covers the first quarter of 2018/19 (1 April 2018 to 30 of June 2018).

NHS Digital publishes data on the number of days lost to sickness absence. It does not publish data on number of staff on sick leave.

NHS Digital publishes monthly data on sickness absence rates which cover sickness absence rate by region, staff group, organisation and organisation type. Information is not published on the length of sick-leave taken.

NHS staff get up to six months full pay and then six months half pay when on sick leave subject to length of service as set out in terms and conditions of service.

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