Public services facing crippling Covid absence rates

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Public services including healthcare, transport and education are coming under strain amid crippling Covid-19 absence rates.
Health leaders have indicated that the pressure of absences on health services in England was becoming unsustainable, with thousands of NHS staff off sick or self-isolating.
Figures published last week, showed 24,632 staff at NHS trusts in England were absent through Covid-19 sickness or self-isolation on 26 December 2021.
Since then, at least six NHS trusts have declared critical incidents, indicating that they may not be able to deliver some priority services. On Saturday (1 January), the United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust said it was “unable to maintain safe staffing levels” which had resulted in care being compromised in areas including stroke and cardiac care.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, council chair at the British Medical Association, which represents doctors, suggested that an equivalent of 178 staff were off work at each acute trust in England.
“At the very time the NHS is standing up hundreds of extra beds in ‘Nightingale’ units to prepare for a surge in hospital admissions, the number of staff absences is rising rapidly – up 31% in a week for acute trusts in England alone,” he said.

“Furthermore, these statistics do not take into account staff at GP practices, community hospitals or other healthcare settings, so in reality the number will be much higher – and the impact on patients much further-reaching. With a record backlog in care, we cannot afford to be losing