NHS waiting lists were cited as long-term sickness continues to drive up staff absence rates at Warwickshire County Council. 

The average number of days that a full-time equivalent council employee takes off through sickness per year has increased from 8.99 to 10.24 in 15 months – up by a quarter. 

The most recent report on the matter stated stress and mental health continues to be a problem – it was the reason given for 15,001 lost staff days in the last financial year – with rising sickness "attributed mainly to specific service issues" in business support, customer contact, children and families and social care.

Performance data also goes to the county's various scrutiny panels – teams of councillors tasked with looking at the detail of the authority's work in specific areas – with the resources, fire & rescue overview and scrutiny committee presented with the numbers last week. 

It had been highlighted as a matter of concern at previous meetings with Craig Cusack, the council's director of enabling services, drawing attention to a briefing note that had been provided to councillors "sharing more information on progress in service areas to address some of the challenges".

Cllr Tim Sinclair said: "If I can summarise it, it said that you understand where the issues are, you are putting in place activities to try to deal with those issues but that they remain a challenge." 

Advocating helping for those who are having such issues, he also called for a better understanding of how long-term absentees were affecting the overall figures. 

"I do think we should maintain a focus on this subject," he said. 

Kate Sullivan, the council's head of strategic human resources, acknowledged a "significant increase" over the past 15 months but said it was "in line with the rest of the country" and benchmarks.

"That's not to say we don't do anything about it, we want people to be fit and in work," she continued. 

"We are taking lots of different action to try to reduce absence, there are things like NHS waiting lists that might be having an impact where we have limited (influence)."

She said that "pockets of long-term sickness" and "trends" remain the focus of attention through "to the end of this year", adding: "We did start to see some stabilisation last month but we need a bit longer to see if those things are really having an impact yet.

"Lots of work is going on, we are doing lots in terms of supporting staff and when you look at our Your Say results that asks about whether people feel their wellbeing is considered at work, that scores really well.

"We know we are doing the right thing in that area but it is about making sure people are well and in work."

Cllr Sinclair said that was "heartening to hear" with his call for greater depth to the data supported by Cllr Sarah Boad, who also questioned what influence, if any, home working had on the figures.

Ms Sullivan said: "There are pockets, nearly half of our staff haven't had any sickness absence at all in the past 12 months.

"We know that long-term has increased whereas short-term has reduced slightly in the past 12 months, and if you are working in frontline services like registration or reablement, you are working with vulnerable people and coming to work when you are not well is not a great thing to do, so we know those areas have higher (rates)."

Noting that some home workers still work when they are unwell, she added: "I think we need to get that balance right.

"If people don't take the time when they need it, does that lead to a longer-term absence? There is some work we need to do to make sure people take the appropriate time to get well."

Chair Cllr Adrian Warwick agreed the panel should continue to be "regularly briefed" on progress.