ALMOST 7,500 days were lost at NHS Borders last year due to staff stress and depression.

New figures for 2017/18 show that a total of 174 hospital and health centre workers couldn’t make their shifts due to stress-related conditions.

The main problem area was in nursing and midwifery where 90 members of staff had time off, cumulating in 3,590 days of absence.

A further 19 members of the support services department also required a total of 870 sick days during 2017/18 due to conditions such as anxiety and depression.

And 29 workers from administrative services chalked up a combined 1272 stress-related days off during the same 12 months.

NHS Borders offers a wellbeing service for all staff members who believe they are suffering from stress.

A spokeswoman told us: "The health and wellbeing of our staff is important to us and is something we take very seriously.

"We take a proactive approach to staff wellbeing by offering preventative training to inform staff how they can maintain good health, build resilience and recognise stress symptoms early.

"Staff who do experience a stress reaction can access a variety of support services through our Work and Well-Being Service.”

Across all departments a total of 7,378 days were lost between April, 2017 and March of this year.

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