Absenoldeb oherwydd salwch y GIG: Ebrill i Mehefin 2025

This release presents official statistics on sickness absence rates of staff directly employed by the NHS in Wales. New information is shown for the quarter 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2025 and data for 1 January to 31 March 2025 has been revised.

The data is sourced from the NHS Electronic Staff Record provided by Health Education and Improvement Wales.

Longer-term sickness absence rates are measured by taking the average sickness rate for the 12 months prior to the last day of each reference month.

• In the 12 months between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025, the average sickness absence rate was 6.2%. This was 0.1 percentage points higher than the same 12-month period last year (1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024), and 0.3 percentage points higher than in the same 12-month period five years ago (1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020).
• Anxiety, stress, depression and other psychiatric illnesses were the leading causes of sickness absence across all health boards and organisations (34.6% of all sickness).
• The 12-month average sickness absence rate has been broadly stable since the summer of 2024, close to 0.8 percentage points lower than the peak rates in summer 2022, which were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

While monthly data is published there can be large variations from month-to-month, therefore more stable short-term trends are measured by using the sickness absence rate in each quarter. The latest quarterly data available is for 1 April to 30 June 2025, and shows:

• the sickness absence rate was 5.8%, 0.1 percentage points lower than the same quarter last year (1 April 2024 to 30 June 2024).
• the rate ranged from 7.1% in the Welsh Ambulance Services, to 2.2% in Health Education and Improvement Wales, when comparing NHS organisations
• the rate ranged from 8.7% for healthcare assistants and support workers to 2.1% for medical and dental staff, when comparing staff groups

Sickness absence shows seasonal variation throughout the year typically with lower rates in summer and higher rates in winter. Data for single months and 12-month moving averages are shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: trends in sickness absence rates in NHS Wales, June 2016 to 2025

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Description of figure 1: line chart showing that the 12-month moving average sickness absence rate has been broadly stable for the last 12 months, below the peaks seen during the pandemic, but higher than period before the pandemic.

Source: Electronic Staff Record, Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW)

Percentage of NHS staff absent by organisation on StatsWales

Sickness absence rates have changed over the last ten years. The 12-month moving average was close to 5.2% for all 12-month periods that ended between June 2016 and May 2019, but the rate increased sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching the highest rates on record (7.0%) for the 12-month periods that ended on 31 July and 31 August 2022. The rate has since fallen and stabilised in recent 12-month periods, close to one percentage point higher than the pre-pandemic level.

New statistics for the reason of sickness absence have been published for the first time on StatsWales. For the quarter 1 April to 30 June 2025, the largest category for sickness absence was anxiety, stress, depression and other psychiatric illnesses accounting for 34.6% of all sickness absence in the NHS. This was followed by other musculoskeletal problems (8.7%) and gastrointestinal problems (8.2%).

Figure 2: sickness absence rates by organisation, April to June 2025 compared to the same quarter in the previous year

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Description of figure 2: bar chart showing that sickness absence rates vary widely by NHS organisation and are higher in the seven health boards and the Welsh Ambulance Services Trust, than in the other NHS organisations.

Source: Electronic Staff Record, Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW)

Percentage of NHS staff absent by organisation on StatsWales

In the quarter that ended on 30 June 2025, sickness absence rates stayed the same or decreases in ten of the thirteen NHS organisations when compared to the same quarter in the previous year. The annual changes ranged from a 1.2 percentage point decrease for staff in Health Education and Improvement Wales to a 0.9 percentage point increase for staff in Public Health Wales. While the rate for Public Health Wales increased, it was 1.5 percentage points lower than the average rate across the whole of NHS Wales.

The Welsh Ambulance Services University NHS Trust had the highest sickness absence rate (7.1%) of all NHS organisations, but this was a 0.4 percentage point decrease from the same quarter in the previous year.

The lowest sickness absence rates were in Health Education and Improvement Wales (2.2%), Digital Health and Care Wales (2.7%) and the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (3.0%). These organisations also had the lowest sickness absence rates in the same period in the previous year.

Considering only the local health boards, there was some variation with the highest sickness absence rate in Swansea Bay and Cwm Taf Morgannwg (both 6.6%) and the lowest rate in Powys (5.1%). The sickness absence rate across all local health boards was 6.0%.

Figure 3: sickness absence rates by NHS Wales staff group, April to June 2025 compared to the same quarter in the previous year

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Description of figure 3: bar chart showing that sickness absence rates varied widely between different staff groups; the rates for healthcare assistants and support staff were four times greater than for medical and dental staff.

Source: Electronic Staff Record, Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW)

Percentage of NHS staff absent by staff group on StatsWales

There were mainly marginal changes in sickness absence rates when comparing staff groups for the quarter 1 April to 30 June 2025 and the same quarter in the previous year. These changes ranged from an increase of 0.2 percentage points for scientific, therapeutic and technical staff, to a 0.6 percentage point decrease for ambulance staff.

Healthcare assistants and support workers had the highest sickness absence rate in the quarter (8.7%), 0.2 percentage points higher than the same quarter in the previous year.

Medical and dental staff had the lowest sickness absence rate in the quarter (2.1%) and has had the lowest rate in all quarters since data was first collected in 2009.

The data is sourced from the NHS Electronic Staff Record provided by Health Education and Improvement Wales. Further information is available in the quality report.

The percentages in this release are rounded to the nearest 0.1. Percentage point changes are calculated based on the unrounded numbers.

Data on the number of Staff directly employed by the NHS Wales (also known as the NHS staff census data) is published on a quarterly basis. Note that there are minor differences in how staff groups are defined between the two releases. These are detailed in the quality report. Complementary statistics on the number of vacancies in NHS Wales is also published.

NHS staff who are self-isolating, including shielding staff (shielding advice was paused from 1 April 2021), are not counted as being on sick absence and are therefore not included in these sickness absence rates.

Statement of compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

All of our statistics are produced and published in accordance with a number of statements and protocols to enhance trustworthiness, quality and value. These are set out in the Welsh Government’s Statement of Compliance.

These official statistics demonstrate the standards expected around trustworthiness, quality and public value in the following ways.

Trustworthiness

A monthly extract is downloaded from the Electronic Staff Record (ESR) Data Warehouse detailing the number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) calendar days available and the number of FTE calendar days of sickness absence for NHS staff in Wales on the ESR by staff group and organisation. Data is submitted from Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) on Excel spreadsheets via Objective Connect, a web-based tool to securely share and receive files.

The published figures are compiled by professional analysts using the latest available data and applying methods using their professional judgement and analytical skillset.

These statistics are pre-announced on the Statistics and Research area of the Welsh Government website. Access to the data during processing is restricted to those involved in the production of the statistics, quality assurance and for operational purposes. Pre-release access is restricted to eligible recipients in line with the Code of Practice (UK Statistics Authority).

Quality

Our statistics are produced to high professional standards and are produced free from any political interference.

Validation checks are performed by Welsh Government statisticians and queries referred to HEIW and other NHS organisations where necessary. Data by staff group is based on mapping occupational codes for individual staff. Information on staff groups is available from the NHS Occupation Code Manual.

The statistical release is approved by senior statisticians before publication. Data is published in line with statement on confidentiality and data access each quarter.

Each edition of the release presents data for the latest quarter and revised data for the previous quarter. As the Electronic Staff Record is a live system and data extracts are taken from it, data presented may be revised in future editions of the statistical release.

Value

The purpose of the statistical release is to inform users about sickness absence levels in NHS Wales. This information is published alongside data on staff directly employed by the NHS in Wales and vacancies in NHS Wales to give a more complete picture of the staff directly employed by the NHS workforce.

Statistics are published quarterly with a three-month lag between the reference period of the latest statistics and publication. The statistics are published with brief analysis and commentary, in addition to open data format tables which are published on StatsWales.

You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.

Well-being of Future Generations Act (WFG)

The Well-being of Future Generations Act 2015 is about improving the social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing of Wales. The Act puts in place seven wellbeing goals for Wales. These are for a more equal, prosperous, resilient, healthier and globally responsible Wales, with cohesive communities and a vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language. Under section (10)(1) of the Act, the Welsh Ministers must (a) publish indicators (“national indicators”) that must be applied for the purpose of measuring progress towards the achievement of the wellbeing goals, and (b) lay a copy of the national indicators before Senedd Cymru. Under section 10(8) of the Well-being of Future Generations Act, where the Welsh Ministers revise the national indicators, they must as soon as reasonably practicable (a) publish the indicators as revised and (b) lay a copy of them before the Senedd. These national indicators were laid before the Senedd in 2021. The indicators laid on 14 December 2021 replace the set laid on 16 March 2016.

Information on the indicators, along with narratives for each of the wellbeing goals and associated technical information is available in the Wellbeing of Wales report.

Further information on the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.

The statistics included in this release could also provide supporting narrative to the national indicators and be used by public services boards in relation to their local wellbeing assessments and local wellbeing plans.

Ystadegydd: Blanka Ignacz
E-bost: ystadegau.iechyd@llyw.cymru

Cyfryngau: 0300 025 8099

SFR 100/2025