Covid driven NHS staff sickness on the rise as fourth jab to start next month

More than 120,000 staff were off sick last week due to Covid, new data shows

NHS staff at Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Covid driven staff sickness is on the rise again across NHS services, as the health secretary Sajid Javid has suggested the public could get fourth vaccine dose in autumn.

NHS data on the number of staff sickness showed 123,055 staff were off sick with Covid-19 related illness last week, up from 103,753 in the week before.

The number of patients remaining in hospitals who should be discharged has also remained high, as NHS leaders told The Independent they are struggling to discharge patients into care homes.

On Wednesday evening health secretary Sajid Javid told ITV’s Peston the government is on target to begin rolling out a fourth Covid-19 jabs to the over 75s at the beginning of next month.

When pushed on whether the offer of fourth jabs would be widened out Mr Javid said they “will at some point”.

He pointed to recent advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations which said further booster for the vulnerable would be needed in autumn.

In February the JCVI said an extra spring dose for the vulnerable was advised “ahead of an expected autumn booster programme later this year.”

The news comes as data published on Wednesday afternoon showed the number of Covid-19 positive patients in hospitals across the south east hit 1,664 on Wednesday, up from 1,162 at the beginning of March.

The number of patients within hospitals across the south west increased from 726 to 1066 during the same period.

The UK Health Security Agency confirmed that 516,289 cases and 744 deaths within 28 days of a positive test have been reported in the last seven days, as of Wednesday 16 March.

On Tuesday, there were 492,103 cases and 714 deaths reported over the previous seven days.

Latest NHS data showed there were 5,877 patients in hospital beds for longer than 21 days who no longer needed to be there.

NHS data on Covid related staff sickness does not differentiate between staff off sick due to symptoms of Long Covid and those off with recent illness.

During the height of the Omicron wave in January the NHS saw unprecedented levels of staff off sick, with more than 40,000 off sick due to Covid-19 related symptoms.

According to senior sources NHS leaders were told on Wednesday afternoon there would be new guidance for hospitals on Covid-19 infection control on 1 April.

The Independent understands the new guidance could include the removal of mandatory mask wearing from public areas and offices. Although mask wearing in clinical areas would remain.

Hospital leaders have yet to get clarity on the roll out of a fourth jab for staff. This comes as the government made a U-turn in February over it mandatory vaccinations for health and care staff.