MILLIONS of NHS sick days will be lost to mental health as staff are set to clock up 28 million absences this year.
New figures show 7.4 million of those days in 2025 alone will be blamed on mental health problems.
That means the average NHS worker is now taking five days off a year for mental health reasons.
Overall, staff are set to take 20 sick days each this year, up from 16 just five years ago.
The total 28 million days lost is the highest in half a decade, according to new research by tech firm Health Connect Global.
The data comes from Freedom of Information requests from a third of England’s NHS Trusts.
It shows mental health absences have surged by nearly 40 per cent since 2020 and are forecast to hit 10 million days a year by 2030.
Trusts are already losing an average of almost 35,000 mental-health-related sick days each in 2025.
The fallout is financial too, with £2.4bn spent plugging rota gaps using agency and bank staff.
Dr Devan Moodley, CEO of Health Connect Global, said: “The NHS is being completely overwhelmed by sickness absences driven by poor mental health.
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“The NHS cannot reduce costs or improve care without tackling the root causes of mental health absence.
“That means better staff wellbeing support and the rapid deployment of much better technology to reduce workload. The cost of doing nothing will only grow.”
UCL Global Business School for Health Director, Professor Nora Colton, added: “Government can’t deliver its ambitious reform plans if sickness levels keep rising because people feel overworked and undervalued.”
An NHS spokesperson said: “We know that sickness absence rates are currently too high and we’re working to bring them down to more sustainable levels – including offering a range of mental health and wellbeing support to help staff stay well and feel supported at work.”
