INVERCLYDE community health and care partnership staff have had over 16,000 days off work due to illness in a year.

The figure, which includes over 13,000 days as a result of long-term sick leave, is outlined in a report set to go before councillors tomorrow.

More than 2,700 working days were lost due to short-term illnesses, the Inverclyde Community Health and Care Partnership (ICHCP) sub-committee will be told.

The report states that the absence statistics among 1,060 staff — which cover the period from January 2013 to January 2014 — reflect a ‘significant improvement’ on the previous 12 months.

But ICHCP director Brian Moore admits that the figures are still not on target.

In a report, Mr Moore said: “Attendance management and supporting staff back to work remains a key priority across all CHCP services.” The thousands of absence days came across four key council departments — health improvement and commissioning; health and community care; mental health, addictions and homelessness; children, families and criminal justice.

The most common reasons for staff being off this January were virus or short term illness, musculoskeletal problems, mental health issues and major medical/surgical requirements.

According to the report, sickness absence is on a downward trend from 7.5 per cent of workforce days in 2012 to 5.6 per cent in 2013 — but the council has set a target of four per cent.

A staff stress survey has been carried out and is now being analysed in a bid to keep staff at work while ‘dealing with stress sympathetically and effectively’.

Mr Moore states: “There might be more we can do to enable staff to undertake some dimensions of their remit whilst perhaps not fully fit, but able to take on some tasks.

“This has been shown to promote recovery and help staff to remain feeling connected to their teams and jobs.” The Tele told last November how local authority workers within the whole of Inverclyde Council had taken more than 40,000 sick days in 2012/13.

Sickness levels among council employees, excluding teachers, fell over the previous three years and had averaged out at around 10 days off for every worker.

Inverclyde’s absence rate now compares favourably with most other councils in Scotland, a decade after it had one of the worst records in the country.