Plymouth doctors' stress sick days rise 430% in five years

Days lost to stress-related sickness by doctors at a hospital trust have increased by more than 430% in five years, a BBC investigation has found.

In 2010-2011, 143 days were lost at Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust compared with 763 in 2014-2015.

The trust said the figures were "concerning" and it was working to cut sickness.

Unison said doctors were emigrating, retiring early or moving to the private sector due to long hours and stress.

The BBC obtained the figures using Freedom of Information requests.

Suzy Franklin, branch secretary of Unison at Plymouth's Derriford Hospital, said: "It's a huge worry, it's a massive increase and the morale is pretty low.

"Pressures on staff are unbelievable because of underfunding in the trust [because] the government is underfunding us."

Prof Roger Jones, from the Royal Medical Benevolent Fund, said: "In 2014, 60% of the doctors [across the country] we helped were suffering from mental health and addiction problems and one of the causes we hear often is the additional stress they are facing in the workplace."

He said workload, bureaucracy and shortage of doctors had all contributed towards them being stressed.

"Doctors are traditionally not good at seeking help. It's important medical students are given guidance to recognise stress and how to deal with it."

Prof Roger Jones said workload had contributed towards stress

Overall, stress-related illnesses for clinical staff at the trust in Plymouth increased by 70% from 6,900 days in 2010-2011 to almost 11,800 days in 2014-2015.

Dr Phil Hughes, medical director for Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Derriford Hospital, said: "We are conscious that stress is a problem throughout the NHS and pressure on staff is increasing steadily as demand for services rise.

"Stress-related illnesses often result in long periods of absence so, although the trend is concerning for what it tells us about the pressures on our staff, it may not represent very large numbers of people off work."

Stress-related sickness at other trusts:

• Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust: 62 days lost to stress-related sickness by doctors in 2010-2011 compared to 199 in 2014-2015 - a rise of 221%. Overall, the trust's stress-related sickness dropped from 12,307 days to 11,140 during the same period.

• South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust: 15 days were lost by doctors in 2012-2013, compared to 186 last year - a rise of 1,140%. No data was provided for 2010-2011 or 2011-2012. Overall the trust's stress-related sickness increased from 5,300 days to 11,200 during the five-year period.

• Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust: 220 days were lost by doctors in 2010-11 compared to 676 last year - a rise of 207%. Overall, the trust's stress-related sickness increased from 12,800 days to 18,600 during the five-year period.

• The Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust: Stress-related sickness by all staff increased by nearly 50% over the last four years, the BBC revealed in March.

'New system'

Jo Holmes, from the Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust, said a new management system had resulted in an "increased level of reporting of sickness absence and recording of the actual reasons".

"If a staff member is off work with stress, we use the Health and Safety Executive stress audit to help identify the cause and plan for how this could be addressed."

The South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said a new system recording the reason for sickness was introduced two years ago, which meant the figures for the last five years could not be compared.

The Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust said it had changed the way it recorded sickness absence during the period so the figures could not be compared.