THE ongoing saga of the health provision in Worcestershire continues today with yet another shocking revelation.

Depressive illness in the workforce at the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust, which runs The Royal in Worcester and the Alexandra at Redditch, is costing £10m a year.

An astounding figure considering their other well-documented problems.

The trust is £23.8m in debt - the third worst in the UK.

This latest situation is hardly likely to help the managers in their attempts to get on top of the situation and clear the debt.

The report, by human resources director Jeff Crawshaw, states that the £10m is made up of £7m in lost time and £3m in bringing in replacement staff to cover.

Staff are now being offering various incentives to "not be ill".

These include a free holiday prize if they turn up for work every day.

Or the sack if they are persistently absent through illness.

When the Royal opened, not that long ago, it was being championed as "a state-of-the-art building which would provide the best care in the country for patients - and a great place to work".

The present experience would maybe bring an alternative conclusion.

Something is obviously going dreadfully wrong.

The only mitigating factor is that nursing and medical staff are at the very bottom of the list.

But if the lifts don't work, or the heating system is broken, then it probably makes it very difficult to cure illness. The maintenance staff are a vital cog in the system.

It's a poor reflection on the health trust workforce.

The people of Worcestershire deserve better.