This figure sets a worrying new high, as it is 9 per cent up on last year’s 13,294 officers, and 130 per cent higher than when Police Oracle first ran the survey 11 years ago (in 2012-13, just 6,294 officers were signed off for poor mental health).

Of the 43 forces that provided figures both this year and last year – via a Freedom of Information Act request – 31 had an increased number of officers being signed off for mental health reasons, suggesting this is a growing problem across the UK.

The UK’s fourth largest force, West Midlands Police, reported the highest number of absences, at 1,128. However the largest force, the Metropolitan Police, often reports erratically, and may measure its absences differently. The second largest force, Police Scotland, reported 1,110 absences in 2023-24, and Greater Manchester Police had 1,028 absences, up 71 per cent on last year.

Some forces reported worryingly high percentage rises in mental health absences, especially Cleveland (up 526 per cent) and Dorset (up 343 per cent). Also showing relatively high increases were Merseyside (up 69 per cent) and South Wales (up 63 per cent).

Other recent surveys have highlighted the physical and mental burden on police officers. The latest National Police Wellbeing Survey, carried out last year, revealed officers were suffering from high levels of fatigue, with 69.6 per cent describing their fatigue level as ‘high’ and 28.9 per cent saying it was ‘very high’. The survey also suggested there was a trend towards burnout, with officers showing low levels of emotional energy.

And in the PFEW Pay & Morale Survey 2023, 82 per cent of respondents said they had experienced feelings of stress, low mood, anxiety or other problems with their mental health and wellbeing over the past 12 months.

Hayley Aley, PFEW co-Lead for wellbeing, said the new statistics were “scary” but that it was good officers were feeling more confident in reporting mental-health issues.

She said: “Some stigma is being eradicated. Historically, police officers haven’t wanted to declare they are struggling with their mental health for the fear it will affect their progression and will have a negative effect on their working life and on their ability to provide for their families.

“I’d love to say that means they’ll get the help and support they need, but there’s a postcode lottery depending on which force the officer is with and how well they can recuperate and what support is available for them.

“Some initiatives that are available in forces positively assist officers, but unfortunately it’s not consistent across all forces. And there’s still an overarching reliance on officers paying for their own support by donating to one of the treatment centres.

“You also see a different scenario in each force when officers do go off sick. If they’re not in a treatment centre or can’t access free services via police charities, they’re reliant on the NHS and it can take months to get the mental health services they need.

“We’re putting pressure on the Police Covenant to recognise there needs to be further support for officers when they find themselves away from the police environment.”

Hayley said pressures were coming from high workloads, low resourcing and repeated exposure to trauma.

She said: “We want to see psychological screening across policing, which Oscar Kilo is now trying to put in place. At the moment, nobody knows whether an officer is going to a string of traumatic incidents in a week. If an officer goes to 10 road deaths in a month, they’re likely to be impacted by that. It can’t be right there aren’t more preventative measures in place so an officer isn’t overloaded by these incidents.

“The Federation recently launched our #AskTwice campaign, encouraging officers to ask their colleagues how they are and – if they’re not convinced by the answer – to ask twice. Our website also has free resources to offer support and guidance for those in crisis.

“In addition, the Police Covenant is trialling 24/7 counselling support in the North East region, but there is still a lot to do to get the right support across the country.”

Full article and breakdown available on Police Oracle.