SICKNESS levels among staff at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust are on the rise.

The increase is mirrored within most NHS organisations across the district, new figures show.

At Airedale, 36,684 days were lost from a total of 824,444 in the year to the end of March, equating to a sickness rate of 4.45 per cent compared to 3.76 per cent in 2013-14.

Nick Parker, head of human resources for the trust, said there was a increase in short-term absence related to flu, respiratory illnesses, and gastro-intestinal type illness, particularly among clinical staff.

Sickness rates at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Bradford City and District Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) also rose.

A nursing union attributed the increase to greater pressures being placed on staff, with added stress making them “unwell”.

According to data from the Health and Social Care Information Centre, the average sickness absence rate for organisations across Yorkshire and the Humber was 4.56 per cent in the year to the end of March, up from 4.36 per cent.

The national average for 2014-15 was 4.25 per cent, up from 4.06 per cent.

But the rate for staff at Bradford District Care Trust – which runs the Centre for Mental Health in the grounds of Airedale Hospital – showed a decrease, from 5.53 per cent to 5.17 per cent, with 45,223 days lost out of 875,013.

Fiona Sherburn, deputy director of human resources and organisation development, said the trust was "encouraged" by its progress highlighted nationally by the NHS as an exemplar site for its work on staff health and wellbeing.

"We are really encouraged by our progress and our own internal reporting suggests our figures are 4.2 per cent for the month end in June," she said.

The highest rate across Yorkshire and the Humber was staff at Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, where 98,216 days were lost from a total of 1,516,500, a rise from 5.87 per cent to 6.48 per cent.

Glenn Turp, regional director for the Royal College of Nursing in Yorkshire and the Humber, said cuts to services at a time of increasing demand mean staff "are under so much stress, which is making them unwell".

"Healthier, happier staff are better able to provide the best possible care to patients," he added.