PSYCHOLOGICAL pressures that come with working in the police are numerous, and hundreds of officers and staff members across the UK have had to take absences due to mental health problems.
Figures obtained by Accident At Work Claim UK found that South Wales Police has logged nearly 2,000 staff absences due to mental health issues in the past three years.
Co-lead for wellbeing at the Police Federation of England & Wales (POLFED), Paul Williams, said: “With assaults on officers rising, pay being frozen, and job pressures being worse than ever, many police workers have been left mentally broken.”
Police officers and staff often face emotionally challenging situations as well as traumatic experiences, and numerous studies have demonstrated that policing is a stressful occupation.
According to POLFED, more than 14,500 officers were signed off work over the financial year 2023-24 due to stress, depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
This record number of mental health-related absences has continued a concerning trend as it is 9 per cent up on last year’s 13,294 officers and 130 per cent higher than 11 years ago, where just 6,294 officers were signed off for poor mental health.
In 2022, the number of police officers and staff members at South Wales Police who took a day off for mental health reasons stood at 528.
A year later, this number increased to 650, which is the second-highest number of staff absent over the three years.
The past year has seen another rise in staff absences due to mental health issues, standing at 814.
Officers and staff struggling with mental health issues to the point where they are unable to work result in a loss of working days for police forces.
Last year, officers across the country lost 774,000 working days to mental health issues, equal to five days per person and a 55% increase from five years earlier.
Speaking about the figures, POLFED wellbeing worker Hayley Aley said the numbers were “scary”, yet the fact that officers were feeling more confident in reporting mental-health issues was positive.
She said: “Some stigma is being eradicated. Historically, police officers haven’t wanted to declare they are struggling with their mental health for fear it will affect their progression and will have a negative effect on their working life.
“Some initiatives that are available in forces positively assist officers, but unfortunately, it’s not consistent across all forces, and there’s still a reliance on officers paying for their own support.”
Many UK police forces log the specific mental health issues when an absence is taken, with the most common problems that police officers and staff face being anxiety, depression and stress.
Accident At Work Claim UK also obtained data on the number of absences logged due to these issues. Those who work for South Wales Police have reported stress and anxiety more, however, they have seen a slight decrease in depression.
Due to the stresses and mental difficulties of the job, many officers and staff members are choosing to retire early or leave the force to pursue a different career.
The 45 territorial UK police forces have individual control over their spending on health and wellbeing services for officers. There is a minimum — they must offer six counselling sessions through the NHS — but that’s the only service they are required to provide.
Around 39% of those who take a first leave of absence due to mental ill-health go on to take further absences.
This has had a big impact on police efficiency across the UK, with workforces dwindling and the financial cost of these absences to forces.
Over the past three years, South Wales Police has seen a total of 199 individuals leave the force, with the overall cost of sickness standing at £13,732,238.
Aside from specific situations experienced at work, many police personnel are feeling the effects of excessive workload and long hours on their mental health.
Speaking to Accident At Work Claim UK, Paul Williams said: “When cops come into work now, they are under horrendous amounts of pressure by the job and the public, dealing with traumatic experiences every day, leading to an increase in ill-health retirements.
“Different forces do different things around the wellbeing of cops. Some are great at offering welfare provisions, while some have no desire to introduce these facilities, meaning it’s a postcode lottery on whether workers get the right care.
“POLFED feels that there should be a set of common minimum standards for wellbeing that all forces have to adopt. If you don’t look after the wellbeing of the officers, then you won’t have a police force to represent and protect the public effectively.”
Accident At Work Claim UK offers support to those who may be suffering from mental health problems at work and offers advice on how to make a compensation claim.
They operate a 24-hour helpline and claim online form, which you can access on their website.
