ALMOST 15,000 working days were lost to coronavirus at York Teaching Hospital between March and December last year.

NHS Digital Data shows the equivalent of 122,185 full-time staff days were lost due to sickness at York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust between March and December.

Around one in eight of these - 14,822 - were because of Covid-19, with staff worst affected towards the beginning of the pandemic.

York Teaching Hospital staff were absent for 3,793 days because of coronavirus in May but were least impacted in March – losing seven days.

A spokesperson for the Trust said the pandemic had "put unprecedented pressure on the NHS workforce" with additional wellbeing support set to be rolled out for those who need help.

It comes amid warnings from the British Medical Association (BMA) about how the pandemic took its toll on the NHS - describing staffing levels pre-pandemic as "woefully" low.

Around 2.5 million days were lost in the NHS across England due to the virus - an overall sickness absence rate of 4.7 per cent between March and December.

Dr David Wrigley, deputy chairman of the BMA, said: “We know the NHS went into the pandemic woefully short on staff and these worrying figures highlight how Covid-19 has made a severe workforce shortage even more desperate.

“Covid-related staff absences coupled with the significant negative impact on NHS staff mental health and wellbeing during the last year have meant more staff needing to take time off work, threatening the NHS’s very ability to provide essential services."

According to the figures, more than half a million days were lost across England due to stress, anxiety, depression, or other psychiatric illnesses in December – the highest of any month since the pandemic started.

Dr Wrigley said the wellbeing of "exhausted" NHS staff is paramount as they face the biggest backlog of care in history, or else he fears many will reduce their hours, retire early or leave the health service entirely.

A spokesperson for York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The last year was far from ordinary and Covid-19 has put unprecedented pressure on the NHS workforce.

"Our staff wellbeing is a priority for us and through a number of initiatives, including regular testing and a successful staff vaccination programme, we have worked hard to support staff to stay emotionally, mentally and physically well.

"We have further plans in place to continue and expand this support for the coming year as our staff continue to provide essential care and services for patients.”

NHS Providers, the membership organisation for trusts in England, said coronavirus and the usual winter pressure had a huge impact on staff, with hospitals still having to deal with the knock-on effects.

Deputy chief executive Saffron Cordery said the "remarkable" work of the NHS during this challenging period must not be taken for granted, and called for long-term support.

She added: “We urge the Government to ensure the NHS has the right levels of staff to build flexibility into the system by providing a fully costed and funded national workforce plan.

"This will help to relieve the pressure on staff, making it easier to cover sickness absences, while ensuring a manageable workload and a better work-life balance."

The NHS figures also show that support staff to doctors, nurses and midwives at York Teaching Hospital were absent most often.

Between March and December, they were sick on a combined 39,728 days – 32 per cent of all staff absences.

The Department of Health and Social Care said it is investing £89 billion to support the "record number" of NHS staff working in England, and to help address patient backlogs.

A spokesman added: “We recognise the enormous pressure this pandemic has put on our heroic NHS and social care staff and we are funding dedicated mental health support, including a 24/7 helpline, to provide help to those who need it."