Over the course of the last calendar year, from January to December 2022, we saw an unprecedented and sustained high average level of sickness absence for the NHS in England. In this report for the Nuffield Trust Billy Palmer and Lucina Rolewicz draw on published data to explore the trends in, reasons for, and impact of sickness absence in the NHS. The briefing primarily focuses on hospital and community services in England, since this is where most is known, although we do compare to trends in other sectors and health services in the other UK nations, where data permits.
All is not well: Sickness absence in the NHS in England | Nuffield Trust