STAFF working for a Cumbria mental health trust have continued to take more sick days as their own mental health decreases, new data has revealed.

A Freedom of Information Request showed a total of 156 people employed by NHS Cumbria Partnership had taken long-term sick leave of more than four weeks from the beginning of 2017 until July 10.

Out of those workers, 65 said "mental health issues" were the root cause of their absence.

The trust operates multiple services across the county and has two main mental health facilities in Barrow- the Ramsey Unit which assesses illnesses such as dementia, and the Dova unit in Dane Garth.

Lynn Marsland, director of workforce and organisational development, said her staff "deserved to live happier, healthier and more hopeful" and their wellbeing was "at the heart" of their strategic planning.

She said: "We want our staff to feel engaged and enabled to take control of the things that help or hinder their ability to deliver excellent services, and very often it is the little things that get in the way of this that are the biggest causes of stress and anxiety in the workplace.

"Over the past two years we have significantly reduced our sickness absence rates – which means we have improved our processes for recognising the triggers for stress and supporting our workforce to address these."

The figures, which date back to 2012/13, showed an upward trend in the number of workers falling ill and the number of people experiencing mental health problems across the county.

Barrow and Furness MP John Woodcock has been a fierce campaigner for mental health and has spoken in the past about his own struggles with depression.

He said: "I am glad that the issue of mental health is getting more attention but there is so much work to do before we can truly say that mental and physical health are treated the same.

"I have been campaigning to raise awareness and to deal with problems we have here in Cumbria, like a lack of beds in our county and people having to travel miles to access therapies they need."

The MP called the current lack of suitable provision a "crisis" and called for an end to the stigma which is still often associated with many mental health conditions.

Mr Woodcock added: "We have come so far on breaking the stigma around mental health and changing the law, what we need now is serious action on funding so that we can make parity of esteem a reality for those who need support."

Emma Mamo, head of workplace wellbeing at mental health charity Mind, called nursing a "hugely challenging job" which offers staff unsociable hours, excessive workloads and poor relationships with colleagues.

“Nursing Standard recently shone a light on the high prevalence of stress and poor mental health across the nursing profession, finding nearly one in 10 nurses had taken time off work for anxiety, stress or depression.

“The study also showed nurses were nearly three times more likely to be stressed than workers within other occupations.

"It’s really important that employers provide comprehensive, accessible mental health support to staff. That way, dedicated workers can be at their best and ready to carry out these difficult and important roles we often take for granted, with better outcomes for patients too."

The data:

The number of staff who took long-term sick leave, defined as being on leave for four working weeks, for any reason:

2013/13: 438

2013/14: 427

2014/15: 445

2015/16: 456

2016/17: 461

2017/18- to 10/07/17: 156

The number of staff who took long-term sick leave, defined as being on leave for four working weeks, due to mental health issues:

2013/13: 160

2013/14: 132

2014/15: 148

2015/16: 152

2016/17: 168

2017/18 - to 10/07/17: 65

“We urge employers to create mentally healthy workplaces by tackling the causes of work-related stress and poor mental health, promoting wellbeing for all staff and supporting employees experiencing a mental health problem.

"Responsible, forward-thinking employers that prioritise staff mental health reap rewards in terms of having a more productive, loyal, healthy workforce that is less likely to need time off sick. Offering regular catch-ups with managers, flexible working hours and generous annual leave can all make a huge difference.

"Wellbeing initiatives that have a cost attached - such as subsidised gym membership and Employee Assistance Programmes (confidential 24 hour phone support) – are likely to save money in the long run through increased staff engagement and productivity.

"Above all we want to see all employers create an environment where they are able to talk openly about stress and mental health at work and know that if they do, they’ll be met with support.”