Since 2012 at East Dunbartonshire Council, over 450 members of staff have been signed off with stress and other mental health problems and now local MP Jo Swinson is calling on the SNP Government to review its approach to mental health.
Across Scotland, figures show that over 11,000 council staff have been signed off with mental health problems in the past year. The figures, obtained through Freedom of Information requests, show that the majority of staff are signed off for a period of under one month (68% in East Dunbartonshire) but a significant number were unable to work for periods of up to half a year.
Jo and the Scottish Liberal Democrats have been leading calls for mental health and physical health issues to be treated equally, and Jo is challenging the Scottish Government to match the Liberal Democrats’ introduction of the first ever waiting time standards in England. From April 2015, most patients needing talking therapies – for conditions like depression – will be guaranteed the treatment they need in as little as six weeks, with a maximum wait of 18 weeks.
Jo said:
“It’s time the SNP Government get a grip on mental health. We have recently seen scandalous waiting time figures for adults and children who are in serious need of treatment, a lack of hospital beds and now these statistics which show a worryingly high number of council staff taking time off work.
“It is vitally important that the Scottish Government works with everyone it can to take down the walls of stigma against mental health issues.
“Workplaces have a role to play in supporting their staff through what can often be a stressful experience of taking sick leave. In light of these figures I hope that public bodies and organisations across Scotland can work with charities to review their approach to mental ill health.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
- Further information can be found below and online at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2p35DKah9ecOWtEUFNLdm5ibFU/view?usp=sharing
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1. The number of individuals signed off for stress-related reasons broken down by the length of time they are signed off for: (a) under 1 month (b) 1 to 3 months (c) 3 to 6 months (d) longer than 6 months (e) longer than 12 months for the financial years 2012/13 and 2013/14. |
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2. The number of individuals signed off for mental ill health (except stress) broken down by the length of time they are signed off for: (a) under 1 month (b) 1 to 3 months (c) 3 to 6 months (d) longer than 6 months (e) longer than 12 months for the financial years 2012/13 and 2013/14. |
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|
Local Authority |
2012/13 |
|
2013/14 |
||||||||
|
|
Under 1 month |
1-3 months |
3-6 months |
6-12 months |
12+ months |
|
Under 1 month |
1-3 months |
3-6 months |
6-12 months |
12+ months |
|
Aberdeen City Council |
208 |
107 |
45 |
18 |
8 |
|
216 |
93 |
47 |
9 |
0 |
|
Aberdeenshire Council |
243 |
187 |
63 |
34 |
10 |
|
271 |
231 |
83 |
40 |
12 |
|
Angus Council |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Argyll and Bute Council |
77 |
47 |
23 |
6 |
0 |
|
93 |
68 |
26 |
7 |
0 |
|
Clackmannanshire Council |
194 |
24 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
|
148 |
54 |
15 |
3 |
1 |
|
Dumfries and Galloway Council |
416 |
110 |
17 |
3 |
0 |
|
549 |
95 |
23 |
5 |
0 |
|
Dundee City Council |
109 |
59 |
39 |
18 |
0 |
|
116 |
64 |
44 |
13 |
1 |
|
East Ayrshire Council |
221 |
93 |
44 |
17 |
1 |
|
176 |
74 |
22 |
6 |
2 |
|
East Dunbartonshire Council |
174 |
89 |
18 |
8 |
0 |
|
115 |
54 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
East Lothian District Council |
169 |
60 |
35 |
4 |
0 |
|
185 |
43 |
16 |
3 |
0 |
|
East Renfrewshire Council |
Not held |
Not held |
Not held |
Not held |
Not held |
|
Not held |
Not held |
Not held |
Not held |
Not held |
|
Edinburgh City Council |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Falkirk Council |
Not held |
Not held |
Not held |
Not held |
Not held |
|
Not held |
Not held |
Not held |
Not held |
Not held |
|
Fife Council |
|
Clarification sought info not received in time |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Glasgow City Council |
696 |
326 |
166 |
186 |
79 |
|
814 |
326 |
202 |
119 |
29 |
|
Highland Council |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Inverclyde Council |
247 |
88 |
29 |
0 |
0 |
|
268 |
96 |
21 |
1 |
0 |
|
Midlothian Council |
367 |
87 |
47 |
9 |
2 |
|
362 |
83 |
42 |
7 |
6 |
|
Moray Council |
197 |
78 |
21 |
7 |
1 |
|
205 |
69 |
23 |
7 |
0 |
|
North Ayrshire Council |
141 |
161 |
29 |
17 |
4 |
|
171 |
216 |
80 |
24 |
4 |
|
North Lanarkshire Council |
424 |
255 |
116 |
21 |
<5 |
|
431 |
221 |
118 |
27 |
<5 |
|
Orkney Islands Council |
18 |
18 |
10 |
4 |
0 |
|
14 |
21 |
8 |
4 |
0 |
|
Perth and Kinross Council* |
305 |
|
|
|
|
|
237 |
|
|
|
|
|
Renfrewshire Council |
346 |
168 |
112 |
46 |
9 |
|
379 |
175 |
110 |
43 |
7 |
|
Scottish Borders Council |
216 |
100 |
32 |
11 |
1 |
|
186 |
106 |
45 |
17 |
3 |
|
Shetland Islands Council |
222 |
60 |
17 |
6 |
1 |
|
185 |
54 |
16 |
8 |
1 |
|
South Ayrshire Council |
208 |
155 |
62 |
27 |
Not provided |
|
206 |
150 |
60 |
23 |
Not provided |
|
South Lanarkshire Council |
272 |
246 |
93 |
27 |
3 |
|
393 |
273 |
89 |
22 |
2 |
|
Stirling Council |
212 |
79 |
34 |
7 |
4 |
|
213 |
87 |
42 |
10 |
4 |
|
West Dunbartonshire Council |
293 |
122 |
52 |
15 |
Not provided |
|
304 |
109 |
50 |
9 |
Not provided |
|
West Lothian Council |
322 |
117 |
54 |
25 |
2 |
|
426 |
181 |
68 |
22 |
2 |
|
Western Isles Council |
Not held |
Not held |
Not held |
Not held |
Not held |
|
Not held |
Not held |
Not held |
Not held |
Not held |
|
Total |
6297 |
2836 |
1164 |
517 |
127.5 |
|
6663 |
2943 |
1250 |
429 |
76.5 |
|
Total signed off |
10,942 |
|
11,362 |
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