STRESS and mental health problems are behind a quarter of all staff sicknesses at Oldham council, it’s been revealed.

Deputy leader Councillor Abdul Jabbar said it was a "big issue" for the authority, but their efforts to help were frustrated when they were not "appreciated" by employees.

This was particularly evident among male staff, he told fellow councillors.

From April to June of this year, mental health problems and stress accounted for 26 per cent of reasons for sick days taken by council workers, with further reasons for absence including muscle, stomach and other physical ailments, a report found.

Over that time, 2,756 days were lost overall as a result of long term sickness among full time employees, with 1,330 lost to short-term absence – a total of 4,086 days lost.

Around 2,800 people are directly employed by the town hall.

This means that in the three month period, on average each employee took just under a day and a half off sick. In the year to date, almost two days (1.98) have been lost per employee on average, according to the council’s latest committee report.

The issue of mental health as a leading cause of absences was raised at a meeting of the borough’s performance and value for money select committee.

Committee chair Riaz Ahmad asked: “Mental health seems to be quite high and I’m just wondering if there is any particular reason?”

Cllr Jabbar replied: “There is a variety of reasons why our staff are sick.

“Mental health of course has been an issue for some time. We are doing quite a lot actually to make people aware of the issues to do with with mental health.

“For example here where it mentions Fit for Oldham, that programme’s actually done quite a lot to raise awareness among staff.

“So it’s not an easy thing, especially if it’s not appreciated by the staff who are actually suffering with this, and we tend to find that problem with the male workers.”

He added they were trying to do "what we can" but it was harder to get help for mental illnesses than physical conditions – and it was a growing issue for the town hall.

“This is something that I’m personally committed to; we are doing what we can, but I’m afraid from my experience and knowledge of this work I know this is a growing area,” Coun Jabbar said. “In terms of the NHS when there is a physical illness that tends to get quite a lot of priority because that tends to be recognised much more easily.”

He added that there were "calls for parity in terms of the way NHS actually deals with both types of illnesses (physical and mental)".

“Particularly certain groups of employees tend not to recognise it and they obviously don’t seek any help to deal with that type of illness, so that’s a serious issue and we’re trying to break through that and make sure people seek help as soon as possible.”

Cllr Ahmad added: “It’s reassuring to hear that it’s on the council’s radar.”

The number of absences taken is also above the authority’s target figure.

The target, of an average of just six working days lost per employee a year, was established to align with the authority’s policy of improving attendance.

In a council performance report, director Dianne Frost stated: “It is a stretch target and continues to remain our aspiration. Work continues to support services to reduce sickness running parallel with our preventative strategy – Fit for Oldham.”

However the report adds: “It is evident that the long term sickness absence at 67 per cent of all absences is having a major impact on the position and early intervention by managers is continuing to be monitored to reduce the length of these absences.

“Services particularly above the target figure are being reviewed with head of service to ensure that additional support and challenge is undertaken.”

The most common reason for staff sickness is "musculo-skeletal" (conditions affecting the joints, bones and muscles), accounting for 29 per cent of absence, the report said.