Mental health: officers need more support

16 January 2018

Leicestershire Police Federation chair Tiff Lynch has welcomed efforts to ensure more is done to support officers’ mental health.

Tiff was speaking ahead of a ‘round table’ debate today on police wellbeing which is to be attended by police minister Nick Hurd.

“This meeting is long over-due but is definitely a step in the right direction. A number of experts including serving police officers will be telling Mr Hurd about the realities of modern day policing, the pressures they face and the way in which their mental health has been affected due to the stresses of the job,” says Tiff.

“It should go a long way to highlight how the Government could help police chiefs fulfil their statutory duty to manage their officers’ welfare.”

Ché Donald, vice-chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) and mental health and wellbeing lead, will represent the experiences of rank and file officers at the event.

“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 per cent 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.”