Fed welcomes appointment of new chief medical officer for the Police Covenant

23 June 2023

The deputy chair of West Midlands Police Federation has welcomed news that a chief medical officer has been appointed for the Police Covenant, saying he hopes this will combat the ‘postcode lottery’ feeling felt by so many officers.

Jason Dooley says having a chief medical officer in place to support the strategic direction of the Police Covenant is essential if progress is to be made around the physical and mental health of cops.

Jase’s comments come after it was recently announced that John Harrison was appointed the role, bringing with him years of experience, nine of which have been working with Devon and Cornwall Police as their chief medical officer.

“Having a medical professional who also has essential experience in the policing, to represent our members and give our officers a voice at that level, I hope will prove invaluable,” says Jase.

“It’s no secret that the level of support officers receive for their physical and mental health, varies hugely depending on location - and we definitely feel it here in the West Midlands.

“I look forward to seeing the impact John makes and I really hope he helps drive the changes we need nationally, in order to improve the health and welfare of our members at a local level.”

‘It’s a marathon, not a sprint’ says the new chief medical officer for the Police Covenant, as he admits his main challenge will be ensuring consistent policies across 43 Forces when each has its own priority.

“When it comes to national consistency, that’s the problem,” said John.

A man with glasses and a blue jumper smiles at the camera

New chief medical officer for the Police Covenant, John Harrison.

“One of the key challenges I see is that all 43 different police forces come with their own set of priorities. One of my goals is to focus on pulling together a network of people to support and operationalise a national agenda, so all forces can roll out the same policies and ways of working.”

John’s appointment comes shortly after the Police Covenant revealed their latest priorities includes, to scope the current support in place in relation to healthcare pathways for the police workforce through further NHS engagement.

The majority of his career has been spent working with the NHS, specifically as an occupational physician, using his core medical training to better understand ongoing issues in employment.

“A priority will be to look at a standardised national approach to occupational health across all forces,” he continued.

“It is a postcode lottery. The variation between what different forces offer is massive and there’s a huge amount of work that needs to be done in this area.

“I want to change the narrative around occupational policing, not only for our officers but so that we can recruit better too. I think the police is a very exciting place to work and I want to help other healthcare professionals see that.”

John explained that his priorities also include clinical governance, to make sure everything that is being done within the police surrounding the health of officers, is done safely.

“It’s so important that police forces are looking after their people properly. I’m here to not only help the organisation but to help officers too,” John added.

“I recognise it’s going to be a marathon, not a sprint but I’m confident we will get there.

The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) wellbeing lead Belinda Goodwin says having a ‘non-bias’ and ‘impartial’ chief medical officer who has a good understanding of both the health service and the police, is ‘amazing’.

“John will be a great asset to us all,” said Belinda.

“He’s very supportive of the police but also knows what he’s talking about from a healthcare perspective.

“John’s main priority will be to look at occupational health standards across the country, which is going to be huge for officers across all forces, nationwide.

“I see him bridging the gap between the health service and the police force, building those essential partnerships to ensure the physical and mental health of our officers is a priority for all forces.”