Managing sickness absence and declared disabilities in a district nursing team

Managing sickness, absence and declared disabilities is a joint venture between staff members, team managers and the wider organisation. Supporting team members, while also making sure that the team continues to function and meet the demand for its services, is often a challenge. The purpose of this article is to help managers and team leaders to both care for their staff properly and meet service demand.

District nursing teams do not work in isolation; they are part of a larger organisation, which also has responsibilities for the health and wellbeing of its staff. In the words of Boorman (Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), 2009):

‘Organisations that work with their staff to provide healthy and safe work combined with a caring environment perform better, and, importantly, by promoting the health of their workers rather than risking damage, they deliver reliably’.

The Interim NHS People Plan (NHS Improvement, 2019) reported that sickness absence in the NHS is around 2.3% higher than in the rest of the economy. It set out the support that staff can expect from the NHS as a modern employer, including having a real voice on: