Stress and depression leading causes of long-term sick at Rochdale Council

Stress and depression are causing more Rochdale Council workers to go off on long-term sick leave than any other illnesses.

A council report reveals that long-term absences those of 20 working days or longer accounted for 70 per cent of the 10,252 sick days taken during the first half of the current financial year.

The majority of these 28pc were due to stress and depression, followed by people having or recovering from operations (16pc) and back/neck problems (9pc).

The number of days lost per full-time employee were 0.89, 0.50 and 0.30 respectively.

These were also the three main reasons for absence over the same period April to September in 2018.

At the end of September 2018, the council employed 2,743 people equivalent to 2,273.82 full time employees.

The council’s resources chief, Councillor Liam O’Rourke, said he was concerned over the long-standing situation, but that staff mental health problems were absolutely being taken seriously by council managers and directors.

He said: “The truth is it is something we have got to keep taking seriously and help people with mental health problems as and when they come forward and not feel stigmatised because of it.

“That’s the main thing, to make sure people don’t feel stigmatised if they’re suffering with mental health issues.”

He added that mental health and physical health should be viewed as being of equal importance and treated with equal concern.

“It’s the case that if you have a broken leg you go to the doctor and if you’re struggling to get out of bed in the morning and you don’t know why, you do the same.

“It’s putting things on that equal footing.”

Rochdale Council has had to absorb £178m of budget cuts since 2010, leading to hundreds of redundancies and increased pressure on services.

And although Councillor O’Rourke emphasises that each individual is in a different situation, he believes austerity is absolutely a factor.

He said: “That is the background issue at the moment and has been for the last nine-or-so years.

“We don’t know when austerity will finish, we don’t know when the swingeing cuts to the authority will finish, we don’t know what situation we could be in at the end, we don’t know what the council is going to look like.”

But he emphasised that not all stress was work-related, and problem in people’s personal lives could often give rise to mental health issues.

“I try to be careful not to just do the political thing and blame it all on Tory cuts and austerity, that would be very, very easy to do,” he said.

However, Councillor O’Rourke says the council has a robust policy for dealing with sick absences and supporting staff back into work.

These include four triggers for a health-related absence interview, which can ultimately lead to dismissal.

He said: “The council has a policy to ensure that everyone is checked up on and that people coming into work are in a fit state and working to their full capacity.”

The cabinet member said the council was continuing to look at ways to bring absence rates down but added: “It’s no good having low numbers if people feel they have to come in when they are feeling stressed, that isn’t a good environment.

“What would be worse would be if people were continuing to work in that situation while they are obviously struggling.”

Neil Thornton, director of resources at Rochdale Council said: “Since austerity began in 2010 we have seen a 37 pc reduction in staffing which presents capacity challenges for the organisation, although of course a fit and healthy workforce is vital for delivering effective public services.

“We recognise the importance of staff well-being and take a proactive approach ensuring staff are better able to cope with stressful situations at home and work.”

He added that those suffering with longer-term conditions can turn to the council’s Employee Assistance Programme for independent free advice and counselling.

He continued: “Staff are also able to access occupational health services, flexible working options and a phased return to work as well as a range of health and well-being initiatives from health checks to subsidised gym memberships.

“In addition, a meeting would be held every 10 days to discuss any additional support that can be put in place to enable a return to work.”

In 2017/18 the number of days lost per year in Rochdale through staff absence was amongst the lowest in Greater Manchester when compared to the other GM authorities.

Nick Statham, Local Democracy Reporter