Nurses 'to handle sick council worker calls'

Date: 20/01/2012

A new 0800 number may be introduced if a proposal to launch a private call centre to deal with absenteeism among council workers is given the green light.

The Scotsman reports how a raft of new measures have been announced in a bid to curb the £12 million lost to sick days each year. 

Finance spokeswoman for the Conservative group councillor Joanna Mowat said: "Where there is genuine sickness, I'm sure it will be covered but we are not a charity and we cannot afford people that are not working productively."

One of the proposals is to make staff phone a private call centre where they will speak to a nurse instead of the current system of discussing their illness with their line manager.

It is hoped by talking to a nurse people will receive advice on how to speed up their recovery, so they return to their job sooner.

According to DirectGov, the average worker in the UK is absent from work for 5.5 days per year due to either sickness or feeling unable to attend their job.