MORE than half of all sick days taken in February by staff at the Cheshire NHS body leading the Covid-19 vaccination programme were down to stress, anxiety, or depression.

That’s according to the latest workforce report from NHS Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which leads the vaccine roll-out in the county.

The report found that 312 sick days were taken by staff in February of this year, with 56 per cent of these days down to ‘stress, anxiety, or depression’.

“It goes without saying that the last 12 months have been incredibly challenging for everyone working in health and care,” a CCG spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

“Staff have been working remotely and countless colleagues have gone the extra mile to help protect the people of Cheshire from the Covid-19 pandemic.

“A wide range of wellbeing resources have been shared with staff throughout the last 12 months and we are committed to adopting the NHS People Plan, including ensuring every member of staff has regular wellbeing conversations with a line manager or trusted colleague.”

The review also found that no days were lost due to Covid-19 illness, but the total number of sick days rose from January, when the figure was 259.

The spokesperson added that management were looking to adapt to a new way of working in a post-pandemic UK.

They said: “We are also working with staff to ensure the support we are offering meets their needs and looking at how we adapt the resources while we work from home and, then, as we gradually return to our office bases.

“Our staff are our biggest asset. Our Governing Body member Christine Morris has been appointed as our Wellbeing Guardian to work with the Governing Body and wider organisation, and a wide-ranging wellbeing action plan is in place.”