The National Health Service is losing 10.3m working days a year to sickness absence, a level which is damaging patient care, according to a review published on Wednesday.

The number is equivalent to 4.5 per cent of the workforce. Sickness absence in the NHS runs at 10.7 days per employee a year on average –- more than 50 per cent above the 6.4-day average in the private sector – and costs £1.7bn a year, according to the review, conducted for the Department of Health by Dr Steve Boorman, medical director for the Royal Mail.