Islington Council staff had nearly 10,000 sick days due to poor mental health last year, Islington Now can reveal.
Data, revealed under freedom of information laws, shows mental health conditions are responsible for the most time off had by local government employees, accounting for 23.4 per cent of sick days in 2020.
The figure is nearly double the national average. Recent figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in 2018 show that mental health accounts for 12.4 per cent of illnesses. The UK average for public sector workers missing work due to a mental health condition is 10.2 per cent.
Coronavirus was the second most frequent reason for sicknesses in the same period, making up a fifth of the 39,356 total days lost.
Anxiety, depression and stress are now the most common reasons for sicknesses in the last five years, with the figure fluctuating between 22 and 24 per cent.
The average numbers of days lost per employee is 8.4, more than 75 per cent higher than the national average.
The council has a range of support services in place for its employees. This includes Able Futures, which provides support from qualified professionals, as well as the confidential Employee Assistance Programme.
However, Jane Doolan, Islington Branch Secretary for the Unison trade union, told Islington Now that there is a culture of “bullying” and “an expectation for workers to be working 24/7” due to “pressures from the public”. She said that she had been telephoned by one frontline worker who had been inundated with phone calls at 8am.
She adds that the “austerity of local councils has played a big part” in “pilling more pressure” on staff to deliver.
Sigal Avni, Assistant Director at Islington Mind, said she “was not surprised” by the findings and said “more research is needed” to look into mental health within the Council.
Islington Council has been approached for comment.
