Close to 2,000 healthcare workers across Northern Ireland’s six health trusts have been sacked in the last five years over attendance issues.
A total of 1,834 staff members in the health service have been dismissed since 2020 due to breaches of, or actions taken under, the trusts’ attendance management policies.
Around 450 workers have been dismissed in the last year alone.
The statistics from the five health trusts and the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service show increasing numbers of dismissals since 2020, when there were 289 in one year, against the highest number recorded in 2024/25 of 448.
In the most recent year, the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust recorded the highest number of dismissals at 130, while the South Eastern Trust followed it on 124.
Seventy-four people were dismissed from the Southern Trust in the last year, while the numbers were lower in the Western Trust (56), the Northern Trust (55) and the Ambulance Service (9).
Just six of those dismissed in the last five years have come from the medical and dental professional grouping, while the highest grouping was registered as staff from a social services position.
According to the health service’s attendance management policy, dismissal is considered to be a last resort after all informal and formal procedures have been exhausted and normally follows on from a disciplinary panel meeting.
The Department of Health was asked for comment on the statistics, but declined to do so on the basis it was an “operational matter” for each of the individual health trusts.
Table: Number of dismissals over attendance management in NI health trusts in last five years
2020/212021/222022/232023/242024/25Belfast Trust11011490156130NIAS0<50<59Northern Trust3640368555Southern Trust69607612574South Eastern Trust42654649124Western Trust3252375856
The figures were released by Health minister Mike Nesbitt in response to an Assembly Question from SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan.
Mr McCrossan raised concerns over the wellbeing of healthcare workers as well as a disparity between senior staff and those on lower bands within health trusts.
The majority of dismissals (68%) were handed out to staff within bands 2 and 3 of the health trust pay scale.
“These figures raise serious questions about fairness and workforce wellbeing in our health service,” the West Tyrone MLA said.
“Dismissals linked to attendance are concentrated among lower-paid frontline roles, while senior grades remain largely untouched.
“That risks creating the perception of a two-tier workforce where those under the greatest pressure carry the greatest consequences.
“Instead of managing sickness through dismissal, we should be preventing burnout, supporting recovery, and retaining the staff our health service desperately needs.”