To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the absence rates in the NHS were in days per employee per year in (a) England and (b) each region in each year since 1997. [125293]
Figures for sickness absence in England were not collected by the Department of Health between 1997 and 1999. The table shows the figures published for sickness absence in England and its regions and covers the period from 1999 to 2001. Figures for 2002 will be published in the near future.We do not collect or produce information for numbers of days lost per employee, but publish the figures as a percentage lost of the time they should have been available for work. General practitioners and their staff are not included in these figures as we do not collect this information.
| Percentage | |||
| 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | |
| England | 4.9 | 4.7 | 4.8 |
| Regions | |||
| Eastern | 4.7 | 4.8 | 4.8 |
| London | 4.4 | 4.0 | 4.2 |
| North West | 5.5 | 5.1 | 5.0 |
| Northern and Yorkshire | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.8 |
| South East | 4.4 | 4.1 | 4.4 |
| South West | 5.0 | 4.8 | 4.8 |
| Trent | 4.9 | 5.0 | 5.3 |
| West Midlands | 5.3 | 5.0 | 5.0 |