Psychological support available through the PTC
12 November 2020
The Police Treatment Centres (PTC) will provide psychological support to officers from West Midlands Police from the start of next year.
The PTC psychological wellbeing programme is designed for officers with mild to moderate anxiety and depression, and stress-related issues.
The two-week programme includes group sessions and workshops focusing on stress management, relaxation and mindfulness.
It will also include group exercise sessions, individual counselling sessions and complementary therapy sessions.
Other facilities available to officers that can aid mental wellbeing include a swimming pool, tennis courts and fitness classes.
A spokesperson for the PTC said: “The set classes and one-to-one sessions are part of the overall team’s support for each patient. The relaxing environment, food and facilities along with the staff from all departments help to provide a place where officers can relax and can concentrate on their recovery.”
PTC is a charity which provides treatment and support for injured and ill police officers and retired officers, including a psychological wellbeing programme as well as police-specific physiotherapy and rehabilitation.
It has two treatment centres at St Andrews, in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, and Castlebrae in Auchterarder, Perthshire.
As part of the new Force arrangements, all student officers will receive their first 12 months’ subscription to the PTC free of charge.
And, any officers signing up to the PTC before 30 April 2021 will not have to be a member for a minimum of 12 months before they can access treatment as is usually the case.
The treatment centres are available to all serving West Midlands Police officers, PCSOs, Special Constables and detention and custody officers. Retired officers can also sign up at a lower rate.
Any serving officer who had previously been donating to Flint House will automatically be transferred to the PTC from 1 January 2021. Any officer wishing to stay with Flint House will need to contact payroll and also set up a direct debit for their subscription.
If you are not currently subscribing to Flint House but would like to find out more about subscribing to the PTC please visit thepolicetreatmentcentres.org where you can also find the sign-up forms.
The Police Treatment Centres is a registered charity supported by voluntary donations from the police family. Officers currently make a donation from their pay of £1.80 per week.
Almost 4,000 serving and retired officers attend the two centres each year with most receiving intensive physiotherapy. Others seek support with stress-related conditions or anxiety and depression as part of a Psychological Wellbeing Programme.
