Letter from Mark Langabeer, Hastings and Rye Labour member
According to the Tonight programme, on ITV, 2.5 million people are out of work because of sickness. The respected think-tank, the Resolution Foundation, has said that there was an increase of 18% during the two years of the pandemic. There are 400,000 more people receiving sickness benefit now compared to before the pandemic. The programme presenter, Adam Shaw, attempted to discover the causes of this increase and he interviews those who have been affected.
Burn-out appears to be a factor. Shaw interviewed a GP, for example, who had lost sight in one eye, and she attributes her condition to the stress of her job, working as a GP for over 15 years. A survey of NHS staff showed that a significant number have suffered during the pandemic.
The Prison Service has also suffered a high rates of absenteeism. A spokesperson for the Prison Officers Association said that at Liverpool Prison, only 31 staff were available to supervise 800 prisoners.
It appears that ‘Long Covid’ has also been a factor. Shaw interviewed a woman who felt there was little understanding by the public at large about this condition. Another factor are the astronomic increases in NHS waiting times, with 140,000 people long-term sick only because they are waiting for treatment. All of this comes at great cost to the economy and according to the programme, over £15 bn has been lost in tax revenue and benefits.
One company was featured, however, that was able to buck the trend by allowing staff to work from home and by other inducements. But for many, working from home is just not an option because of the nature of their work.
Some researchers think that the growth in long- term sickness has more profound roots which the Pandemic has simply brought to the surface. Life expectancy in some economically-deprived areas had fallen even prior to Covid, and is still falling.
In my opinion, an important factor why working people are less healthy is because public services have been hollowed out and there is little sign that the Tories will change this sad state of affairs. In fact. they are on the road to a new round of austerity as bad as we had after 2010.
Millions will expect Labour to rebuild the NHS, social care, the Education service, social housing and other key public services and if they faile there might be a Tory revival, with policies worse than the past 13 years.
The programme can be found on ITV X (you may need to register) here.
