Police wellbeing roundtable event “long overdue”
Police Federation of England and Wales
More needs to be done to tackle mental health, the Police Federation of England and Wales will tell a roundtable event
A round table debate on the important issue of police wellbeing has been welcomed by the Police Federation of England and Wales, but is “long overdue.”
The Minister for Policing and the Fire Service Nick Hurd will hear from experts and police officers on police wellbeing, today Tuesday 16 January and is aimed at looking at how the Government can help police chiefs in their statutory duty to manage the welfare of their officers.
Vice-chair of the PFEW Ché Donald, who is also the lead on mental health and wellbeing for officers, will be attending the event, representing the experiences of rank and file officers.
“Mental health issues for serving officers is an increasing concern for the Federation and the service overall,” he explained. “Resilience in the service is at an all-time low and officers are being put under inordinate amounts of pressure which is taking its toll on their health and wellbeing.
“The unprecedented cuts to the police service have meant that officers are under more strain now than ever before as officers are being asked to do more and more with fewer resources and it has been inevitable that the increased pressures they’re facing have had an impact on their mental health and wellbeing.
“While we welcome the event, it is long overdue. More needs to be done to tackle mental health issues across the board. Our own Police Federation survey of 17,000 officers in 2016 showed an alarming set of statistics around mental health of officers, with 39% seeking help with mental health issues – that cannot be right and Chiefs and the Government have to make a commitment to support officers in dire straits.”
