Number of NHS staff absent from work due to Covid rising

The number of NHS staff absent from work due to coronavirus is rising across England.

Nearly 19,000 NHS staff were absent for Covid-related reasons on 19 December – an increase of 54% on the previous week.

In London, the figure was almost 3,900, more than double the previous week’s number.

This suggests that roughly 5% of the NHS workforce in England was absent on 19 December.

The totals include staff at NHS acute trusts who were ill with Covid-19 or who were having to self-isolate.

NHS Providers’ chief executive Chris Hopson said this showed Omicron was having a “real-time impact on service”.

He told the BBC: “The next few weeks will present a huge test for the NHS on many fronts – coping with Covid-19, handling emergencies, working on the backlog where possible, and delivering boosters.”

The latest figures show the number of beds occupied in NHS hospitals remains high with 81,880 out of 89,991 adult beds full in England on 19 December.

However, ambulance handover delays have improved slightly – with about 20% of people waiting for more than 30 minutes to be handed over to accident and emergency in the week up to 19 December, down from 23% the week before.

In Northern Lincolnshire, 35% of ambulance patients waited more than 30 minutes to be handed over to A&E staff.

A further 42% of patients waited more than four hours in A&E before being seen by staff, nearly double the national average of 26%.