Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what factors they attribute to any persistently high levels of sickness absence within the NHS.

Improving National Health Service staff’s health and wellbeing is a priority, recognising the link between workforce wellbeing, attendance, and high-quality patient care.

NHS England is supporting organisations to strengthen their culture, improve working conditions, and expand access to high quality occupational health and wellbeing services.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will roll out Staff Treatment hubs to ensure all staff have access to high quality occupational health support, including for mental health and musculoskeletal conditions, the two main causes of sickness absence in the NHS.

To further support this ambition, we are working with the Social Partnership Forum to introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment.