Staff at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust took more days off sick in December than they did a year before, new figures show.

The British Medical Association has warned the NHS is facing an "unprecedented crisis", with burnt-out staff unable to work and a lack of investment causing further stress, anxiety, and depression.

The latest NHS Digital figures show the NHS staff sickness absence rate was 6.3% in England in December 2022 – up from 5.4% the month before, and slightly higher than 6.2% a year previously.

At the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay, 6.7% of the available full-time-equivalent working days were missed in December 2022.

One month earlier, the rate was 6%, while in December 2021 6.6% of all FTE working days were classed as absent.

Separate figures from NHS Digital show approximately 840 working days at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay were lost due to Covid-19.