Sickness among staff is a chronic pain for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH).
Chief executive officer Dr Dexter James said yesterday that for 2017 it is costing the QEH about $230 000 in sick leave per month, resulting in a loss of 21 600 productive hours.
James explained that approximately $30 000 of that was for uncertified leave, in cases where people took one or two days to recover from minor complaints, but certified leave accounted for the bulk of the costs.
He told the WEEKEND NATION that in many of those certified cases cancer treatments, back pain and other “prolonged issues” were the major complaints.
There is no one solution for the myriad of illnesses that are presenting, but mass treatment for one of the known silent killers will begin from January through the new employee wellness programme – HypE (Hypertension Evaluation) – which was launched in the QEH auditorium yesterday morning. (YB)
Please read the full story in today’s Weekend Nation, or in the eNATION edition.
