Absence due to stress is a matter that is being seriously investigated, according to Minister for Health and Social Care Kate Beecroft.

Mrs Beecroft was responding to a question from Douglas North MHK David Ashcroft who wanted to know how many doctors and nurses were signed off work sick with stress, anxiety or depression in the financial year 2015 to 2016.

Mrs Beecroft told the court eight out of the 131 doctors employed in the service were signed off in that period with stress-related problems and out of those two were signed off for four months or more.

Moreover, she said 68 of the island’s 523 nurses were signed off with stress, anxiety or depression and, of those, 16 had been off for four or more months.

Mr Ashford noted the figures closely mirrored those for the previous year (10 doctors and 67 nurses), asking if there was any root cause and what action was being taken to address the problem.

’It is an area we are seriously looking at to get to the root cause,’ Mrs Beecroft said.