Merseyside doctors lost 9,909 days to stress-induced illness in 2018 - equivalent to 27 years - figures from the NHS have revealed.
The number is already nearly 30% higher than the 7,816 days lost in the whole of 2017 and would be the highest number recorded for
any year since at least 2012.
The figures include absences for anxiety, stress, depression, as well as other mental health conditions.
Of all Merseyside NHS centres affected, The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospital trust was the worst hit, losing 801 days of work from their doctors, almost two years, up from 781 days lost in 2017.
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British Medical Association council chair, Dr Chaand Nagpaul, said: “As alarming as these figures are, they are unfortunately not surprising considering the enormous pressure that many doctors are currently under.
“This was exemplified in a recent survey from the BMA looking at the mental health of doctors which found that a worrying eight in ten were at high risk of burn out and a significant number had a mental health condition, linked to the stress of working in the NHS.
"We need to tackle the underlying causes which are forcing people to take time out of the profession by increasing investment and resources as well as ensuring that support is at hand for those staff who have unfortunately reached this crisis point."
A Royal College of Physicians’ survey of junior doctors in 2017 found that 70% per cent worked on a rota that was permanently under-staffed, 80 per cent felt their work put them under excessive stress, and a quarter felt it had a serious impact on their mental health.
