Nursing Staff Absence - FOI Response Register

1. Please provide the following information in relation to nursing* staff sickness absence within the NHS Board for each of the financial years 2023/24 and 2024/25 year to date at 31 December 2024:

The number by sickness absence reasons for:

1. Sickness absence episodes
2. Working days lost 
3. Number of staff absent

Where we have given <10 answers (and <75 hours), this is because NHS Shetland considers that providing more specific information carries a high risk of identifying individuals.

<10 and <75 hours are used as the limits because the data in the answers to questions 2 and 3 constitute mutually exclusive subsets of the data in the answer to question 1. Lower thresholds in the question 1 data would undermine the redaction in questions 2 and 3 and increase the risk of identifying individual staff members.

As such and in accordance with FOISA s 16(1), NHS Shetland confirms that it holds the information requested but that it is exempt from disclosure under FOISA s 38(1)(b) as read with s 38 (2A) as the information constitutes personal data and disclosure would breach the confidentiality of the data subjects.

2. Please provide the following information in relation to Agenda for Change bands 5-9 nursing* staff sickness absence within the NHS Board for each of the financial years 2023/24 and 2024/25 year to date at 31 December 2024:

The number by sickness absence reasons for:

1. Sickness absence episodes
2. Working days lost 
3. Number of staff absent

Where we have given <5 answers (and <37.5 hours), this is because NHS Shetland considers that providing more specific information carries a high risk of identifying individuals. As such and in accordance with FOISA s 16(1), NHS Shetland confirms that it holds the information requested but that it is exempt from disclosure under FOISA s 38(1)(b) as read with s 38 (2A) as the information constitutes personal data and disclosure would breach the confidentiality of the data subjects.

3. Please provide the following information in relation to Agenda for Change bands 2-4 nursing* staff sickness absence within the NHS Board for each of the financial years 2023/24 and 2024/25 year to date at 31 December 2024:

The number by sickness absence reasons for:

1. Sickness absence episodes
2. Working days lost 
3. Number of staff absent

Where we have given <5 answers (and <37.5 hours), this is because NHS Shetland considers that providing more specific information carries a high risk of identifying individuals. As such and in accordance with FOISA s 16(1), NHS Shetland confirms that it holds the information requested but that it is exempt from disclosure under FOISA s 38(1)(b) as read with s 38 (2A) as the information constitutes personal data and disclosure would breach the confidentiality of the data subjects.

4. Please provide the sickness absence rate for nursing staff in the NHS Board at 31 March for each of the financial years 2023/24 and 2024/25 year to date at 31 December 2024 for a) all nursing staff b) Agenda for Change bands 5-9 and c) Agenda for Change bands 2-4. 
5. Please provide the number (headcount) of nursing staff in the NHS Board currently absent from work due to Long Covid in a) total b) Agenda for Change bands 5-9 and c) Agenda for Change bands 2-4. 

*Note: In providing this information for nursing, please exclude from the nursing and midwifery job family, the sub job families for midwifery, e.g. midwifery and neonatal midwifery.

See attached spreadsheet response.

Note

The data includes employees with a job descriptor of ‘Nursing’ as of 31 March of each year. It excludes Midwives and Nursery staff. The data includes staff who left mid-year.

For 1(b), 2(b) and 3(b), the number of working hours lost has been provided instead of days lost because all national workforce systems report absences in hours as opposed to days.

For 1(c), 2(c) and 3(c), where an employee had multiple posts and they were absent in all of these posts for the same absence reason, then they have been counted as 1 member of staff. A member of staff may have had a number of absence episodes for different reasons during the financial year. Where this was the case, their episodes and working hours lost have been counted separately under each specific absence reason and they were counted as 1 for number of staff in each relevant absence reason. Where a member of staff had a consecutive absence that spanned 2 financial years, they were included in each financial year.