Absenteeism at Son Espases Hospital increased by 20% during the first quarter of this year in comparison with January to March 2016. This equates to 390 members of staff having been off for one day.
The hospital's managing director, Josep Pomar, has written to heads of departments about the management's concern with absenteeism. There is particular worry regarding short-term absences for the same illness. Pomar says that there can be several reasons for absenteeism, with illness being one. But when there is such a significant increase from one year to the next, he wonders if "other circumstances" are influencing the rise.
In order to assess the reasons for the increased absenteeism, a working party of heads of department and personnel has been created. Pomar stresses that absenteeism has an impact on the hospital's organisation and that it can be very harmful to units where it is at its highest.
As well as organisational problems, there are additional costs as a result of absenteeism. If the current trend continues, he notes, it would mean an extra one million euros for bringing in staff to cover for the absentees. This burden on the hospital's budget could result in certain improvement projects being unfeasible because of a shortage of funding.