Staff sickness levels at Dorset County Council cost more than £2million in 12 months.

Based on the latest 12 month sickness absence, figures show an annual cost of £2.39million for the council - excluding schools and the cost of additional temporary staff to provide cover where necessary.

The figures are to be discussed at DCC's staffing committee on Monday. 

The report highlights that the two top reasons for sickness at the council are mental health and musculoskeletal issues.

In the period from October 2016 until September 2017 a total of 704 days (the equivalent of nearly two years) per year are being lost through children social workers because of mental health-related sickness.

In the same period, 372 days per year are being lost through loaders at Dorset Waste Partnership; 358 though adult assessment coordinators; 184 through Dorset Waste Partnership drivers; 171 through environment and economy passenger assistants and 171 in adult social workers - all because of mental health related sickness. 

The report reads that there is a "long-term campaign within DCC to raise awareness of mental health and reduce its stigma". 

It added: "In the last month, workshops have been held with employees on wellbeing and stress reduction, to raise awareness of mental health and make changes to practice as needed."

Moving forward the council say the focus will be on enabling employees to access DCC’s extensive wellbeing information on their own mobile phone, tablet or other devices to be able to support them at any time of the day or night.

The highest levels of absences due to musculoskeletal problems are in the DWP and environment and economy sectors.

The report reads that DWP loaders, drivers and supervisors all participate in an induction and training programme, which includes handling and lifting as well as regular short practical training sessions on health and safety, called “tool box talks”.

The next session will be focusing on musculoskeletal injuries and how to prevent them.

For the twelve-month period ending in Q2 2017/18, the council dismissed 15 employees due to medical incapability plus four ill health retirements.

This compares with 18 medical incapability dismissals and five ill health retirements for the previous twelve month period ending Q1 2017/18. 

The highest dismissal rates were in the children's services sector, where seven employees were lost due to medical incapability. 

The report adds that DCC is working with a partner organisation, commissioned by Public Health, to provide free health checks to Dorset-based employees aged over 40 in efforts to improve sickness absence.

The service will be offered to DWP and highways first, and then wider within DCC subject to resource. 

Councillor Ros Kayes, leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, there is a massive amount of stress falling on all departments at Dorset County Council.

She said: "The problems are happening across the board, it is anybody who is responsible for reducing the budget. Employees at the council are finding it extremely difficult to make these decisions that are affecting other people's lives dramatically. It is having a big psychological impact on them.

"We are still having major problems in recruiting social workers, meaning the members of staff who are left are having much large amounts of cases put on them, to the point that they become unwell.

"We need to be inviting more social workers from outside Dorset to come here by offering better incentives. If staff are off sick and the council is then paying both that person and an agency worker to cover them, it is costing more. It would be better to spend more money on better advertising and boost the jobs altogether."

She added: "There needs to be more support on offer for everyone at the council."