{"id":5652,"date":"2021-01-12T17:32:23","date_gmt":"2021-01-12T16:32:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gpsj.co.uk\/?p=5652"},"modified":"2021-01-12T17:32:23","modified_gmt":"2021-01-12T16:32:23","slug":"the-institute-of-healthcare-management-calls-for-openness-and-honesty-about-nhs-capacity-as-sickness-absence-soars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gpsj.co.uk\/?p=5652","title":{"rendered":"The Institute of Healthcare Management calls for openness and honesty about NHS capacity as sickness absence soars"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UK\u2019s leading, independent, membership body for health and social care managers says politicians and policy makers must level with the public as one in five poll respondents say more than 15% of staff are now off sick or isolating<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Institute of Healthcare Management has called for honest and open communication about NHS capacity after a snapshot survey revealed the scale of sickness absence across the service.<\/p>\n

The UK\u2019s leading, independent, membership organisation for health and social care managers also said local leaders and communications teams should be allowed to level with the public about their situation, as almost two thirds of poll respondents reported \u2018worse\u2019 or \u2018much worse\u2019 absence levels than they would expect at this time of year.<\/p>\n

\"\"

IHM, chief executive, Jon Wilks<\/p><\/div>\n

One in ten respondents reported sickness levels of 12-15% and one in five reported absences of more than 15%. Despite this, a majority said they were \u2018managing well\u2019 or finding things \u2018tough, but we are coping.\u2019<\/p>\n

IHM, chief executive, Jon Wilks said this was a tribute to the planning that had gone into preparing the NHS to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic this winter, and a demonstration of the resourcefulness that health and care services have shown as the second wave has accelerated.<\/p>\n

However, he said politicians and policy makers needed to be transparent about the situation, so the public could form realistic expectations about the NHS\u2019 ability to open up new services and follow guidance intended to halt the spread of the disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the moment, politicians and policy makers are talking about opening additional services, such as Nightingale Hospitals and Nightingale vaccination centres,\u201d Wilks said. \u201cAlthough the picture varies across the country, our members are saying that the scale of sickness absence in the NHS right now makes that fanciful.<\/p>\n

\u201cCurrent services are managing, under enormous pressure, but without staff the idea of opening additional beds and services is a non-starter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need openness and honesty about the position so workers and staff, patients and families have realistic expectations about the treatment available for Covid-19 and other conditions, and don\u2019t lose faith in the service because the reality fails to match the headlines they are seeing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilks also urged politicians and national organisations to allow commissioners and trusts to communicate with local media, instead of relying on central messages. \u201cIf local managers could represent their position to local communities, we would have a much better understanding of what is happening across the service,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would almost certainly win a lot more support for the NHS and for the Covid-security measures that everybody needs to follow to halt the spread of this terrible pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n

The online, snapshot survey was completed by 82 IHM members. It found 32% felt sickness absence was \u2018same as we would expect at this time of year\u2019 but 37% thought it was \u2018worse\u2019 and 25% thought it was \u2018much worse\u2019.<\/p>\n

Asked to estimate how many staff were off sick, 30% said \u2018up to 5%\u2019, and 26% said 5-7%, 8-10%, or 10-12%. However, 12% said absence was running at 12-15% and 20% said it was \u2018more than 15%\u2019.\u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

Wilks pointed out that these figures exacerbated long-term shortages of staff. The NHS went into the Covid-19 crisis with 100,000 vacancies unfilled and short of more than 40,000 nurses.<\/p>\n

Asked \u2018to what extent staff absence is currently affecting your organisation\u2019s ability to deliver services\u2019, more than 22% of respondents said they were \u2018managing well\u2019 and 39% said it was \u2018tough, but we are managing ok.\u2019<\/p>\n

However, 29% said \u2018services are being affected, although we are not in crisis\u2019 and 10% said \u2018services are being seriously affected and we are in crisis.\u2019<\/p>\n

The survey was launched over New Year, so the majority of responses were submitted before this week\u2019s big increase in cases, and the release of figures showing that the number of people who have died within 28 days of a positive Covid-test has passed 1,000 per day for the first time since April 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UK\u2019s leading, independent, membership body for health and social care managers says politicians and policy makers must level with the public as one in five poll respondents say more than 15% of staff are now off sick or isolating<\/p>\n

The Institute of Healthcare Management has called for honest and open communication about <\/p>\n

Continue reading The Institute of Healthcare Management calls for openness and honesty about NHS capacity as sickness absence soars<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1834,9,1313],"tags":[25,417,264,828,1827,2198,2196,122,416,1748,1750,2197],"class_list":["post-5652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-covid-19","category-nhs-healthcare","category-politicians-political-parties","tag-government-public-sector-journal","tag-government-journal","tag-gpsj-magazine","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-ihm","tag-institute-of-healthcare-management","tag-nhs","tag-public-sector-journal","tag-secretary-of-state-for-health","tag-social-workers","tag-survey","odd"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Institute of Healthcare Management calls for openness and honesty about NHS capacity as sickness absence soars - 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