Mental health absence among ambulance staff nears 170,000 hours in year

Emergency service workers are “sacrificing their own health” as figures reveal almost 170,000 staff hours were lost to mental health absences in a year, the Scottish Liberal Democrats have said.

Figures obtained by the party through freedom of information (FOI) requests revealed staff absences totalled 169,574 between July 2021 and June 2022.

Mental health absences have soared by 68,559 hours from the previous year where the figures equated to 101,015 hours.

An employee is included in the Scottish Ambulance Service data if they have an absence due to anxiety, stress, depression or other psychiatric illness.

Figures can include paramedics, technicians, care assistants and accident and emergency team leaders.

Scottish Liberal Democrats leader Alex Cole-Hamilton urged the Scottish Government to implement strategies to help medics with their mental health.

In its FOI response, the Scottish Ambulance Service said the mental wellbeing of staff was taken “very seriously”, with robust strategies in place to support those who need it.

The figures come as Public Health Scotland (PHS) data revealed the number of patients waiting more than eight hours in emergency departments reached record levels, with 3,553 waiting that timeframe in the week up to October 9.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said: “The figures that I am unveiling today show that in many cases they have sacrificed their own health to keep others safe.

“Medics and call handlers know that they do a high pressure job but that doesn’t mean the Government should expect them to constantly go faster and faster. That’s a recipe for a breakdown.

“Soaring staff absences show the heavy toll that this sort of work can take, but the Government isn’t doing enough to ease the pressures.

“As has become typical of their approach to emergency care, the SNP are sticking their fingers in their ears and hoping the problem simply goes away.”

A burnout prevention strategy, proposed by his party, would ease the pressure on staff and introduce an NHS staff assembly to give them an opportunity to shape the future of the service.

“Sadly, these are both policies which have been voted down or rejected by the SNP/Green coalition,” he said. “This needs to stop.

“Working for our emergency services requires huge resilience; it’s about time our Government acknowledged that by giving staff the support they need.”

A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “Our staff work incredibly hard, helping patients and saving lives every day.

“We understand the pressures they face and during the pandemic we’ve increased the range of wellbeing support available to our staff, are providing vital additional support to them and have launched a new wellbeing strategy.

“In addition, we are continuing to recruit, train and develop new ambulance staff to provide additional capacity, which includes recruiting an additional 540 frontline staff over the last financial year.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Our priorities are the safety and care of patients, and the wellbeing of Scottish Ambulance Service staff.

“We are determined that the service has the resources and skilled staff in place to deliver high quality care. Our increased investment has seen a record number of 540 additional staff join the service since 2021.

“We have made £12 million available to support the mental health and wellbeing of our NHS workforce, providing support for their physical and emotional needs.”