Mallow hospital had 8% staff absent last month

Three Cork hospitals had staff absence rates well above the national average last month, new figures have shown.

The HSE’s target absence rate is 4% or under, but only one Cork hospital managed to achieve this in August.

Figures published by the health service show staff absence rates across Cork hospitals ranged from 8% at Mallow General to 3.8% at the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital (SIVUH).

The data also shows that HSE South West, which covers Cork and Kerry, had some of the highest staff absence rates in the country.

The absence rate measures contracted hours not worked, excluding annual leave, public holidays, and maternity leave.

There was a rate of 5.8% at Cork University Hospital (CUH), 5.2% at Mercy University Hospital, 7.2% at Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH), and 7.3% at Bantry General Hospital.

CUH’s rate was broadly in line with the national average, while the Mercy was slightly below it and SIVUH was significantly below it.

In contrast, Bantry General Hospital, Mallow General Hospital, and CUMH were all well above the national figure.

The report also found a wide variety in absence rates among different types of staff.

Dental staff

Medical and dental staff in Cork hospitals had among the lowest rates of absenteeism, which was under 2% in all six hospitals.

Nursing and midwifery staff had higher rates of absences — nearly 12% in Bantry, just over 8% in Mallow and CUMH, 6% in CUH, and 4%-5% in the Mercy and SIVUH.

Absence rates for management and administrative staff stood at 4.1% in SIVUH, 5.5% in the Mercy, 5.8% in CUH, 6.3% in Bantry, 7.1% in CUMH, and 10.9% in Mallow.

The highest rate of absenteeism in Cork was recorded among general support staff at CUMH, where 16.5% of workers were absent. Rates ranged from under 2% at Bantry to 7.5% at CUH.

Maternity leave absence is calculated separately, and was lower across the board than sick leave — 2.5% in SIVUH, 3.5% in the Mercy, 3.6% in CUH, 4% in Mallow, and 6% in CUMH and Bantry.

HSE South West had the second-highest rate of both absence and maternity leave out of the six health regions in August.

Overall, HSE South West had a sickness absence rate of 6.6% last month, the highest recorded figure since January, when it stood at 7.3%.

A spokesperson for HSE South West said it had established a ‘Supporting Attendance in the Workplace’ group in February to promote employee wellbeing and support attendance across healthcare services in Cork and Kerry.