Occupational risks of Covid-19 infection in NHS staff

We propose a study using anonymised national data from NHS’s electronic staff records (ESR) to explore the risk of sickness absence due to suspected Covid-19 according to ethnicity, professional role, sex and age and in relation to available antigen/antibody test results.

This will help us understand not only the differential risks of Covid-19 infection in health care workers but also the possible modifying roles of ethnicity, age and sex. We will also examine sickness absence for mental illness. In addition, in a limited number of NHS Trusts we will collect group information on hospital admissions, staff redeployment and the availability of PPE.

Accordingly the study will answer the following three questions among staff employed by NHS acute medical Trusts:

1. How have rates of sickness absence ascribed to suspected Covid-19 infection varied according to ethnicity, age, sex, and potential for occupational contact with Covid-19 as indicated by occupation and department? How are these related to available data on antigen/antibody test results?
2. How have rates of prolonged sickness absence ascribed to suspected Covid-19 infection varied according to ethnicity, age, sex, and potential for occupational contact with Covid-19 as indicated by occupation and department?
3. How have rates of sickness absence ascribed to mental illness and other causes unrelated to Covid-19, varied over the course of the epidemic as compared with 12 months earlier, and have changes differed by ethnicity, occupation and department?

The study duration will be six months.