Page 20 - Federation magazine: April / May 2017

Survey reveals poor
mental wellbeing

Rank and file police officers in the West Midlands are severely Tom Cuddeford, interim chairman of West Midlands Police
affected by the stress of the job, with many suffering from poor Federation, said: “The results of this survey are proof of what we
psychological wellbeing. have been saying for a while. Officers are stressed, overworked and
This is the reality that came out following further analysis on struggling to cope. Their welfare is suffering.
results from a survey into police officer demand, capacity and welfare
conducted by the Police Federation of England and Wales last year. “This is all because of the cuts, and until we have more officers it
is not going to change.
A total of 1,030, (15 per cent) of West Midlands officers responded
to the survey. “When is someone going to listen to us? What is it going to take
for someone to stand up for us and realise that we need change and
Seventy per cent of those said their workload is currently too high, we need it now?”
compared to a national average of 66 per cent.
Among the findings nationally, 33 per cent of officers have been
And 33 per cent of respondents said they often or always have the victim of an unarmed physical attack at least once per month
unachievable deadlines, with 44 per cent saying they have to neglect over the last year and, 36 per cent of officers reported having been
some tasks because they have too much to do. attacked with a weapon at least once in the last year.

Of real concern is the fact that 80 per cent indicated they had More than 70 per cent said their team/unit had a minimum
experienced feelings of stress, low mood, anxiety, or other difficulties officer staffing level and 53 per cent of officers reported they were
with their health and wellbeing over the last 12 months. And 89 per ‘never’ or ‘rarely’ able to take their full rest break entitlement.
cent also indicated these feelings were caused, or made worse, by work.

Of?cers reluctant to seek help for mental health issues

More needs to be done to tackle the l 39 per cent felt that they had been given mental health and wellbeing support to
stigma associated with mental health the right support. their line managers.
and wellbeing in the police service,
according to the Police Federation. l A startling 73 per cent of line managers Respondents who did not disclose
said they had not been given any they had sought this support cited the
The Federation’s Officer Welfare, training on how to support a colleague following reasons:
Demand and Capacity Survey looked at who was having difficulties with mental l Not wanting to be treated differently.
the effects of working under increased health or wellbeing. l Feeling it was not affecting their work
pressure, the ability to cope and opinion Sixty per cent of respondents from West
on organisational support. and therefore they did not feel they
l 65 per cent of respondents said they Midlands Police reported one or more days needed to.
of sickness absence with 32 per cent l Not wanting it to negatively affect
had still gone to work despite feeling indicating that at least one day of their promotion or specialisation
they shouldn’t have due to their sickness absence was due to stress, opportunities.
mental wellbeing. depression or anxiety. l Concerns about colleagues finding out.
l 51 per cent of respondents disagreed
or strongly disagreed with the Almost 39 per cent
statement, ‘The police service of West Midlands Police
encourages its staff to openly talk respondents had
about mental health and wellbeing’. previously sought help
l 57 per cent of respondents indicated for feelings of stress,
that they would NOT feel confident low mood, anxiety or
disclosing any difficulties with mental other difficulties with
health and wellbeing to their line their mental health and
managers. wellbeing, of which 47
Of those who reported having sought per cent had done so
professional help; within the last 12
l 42 per cent said that they were poorly months.
or very poorly supported by the police
service. A total of 64 per
cent of respondents
reported they had
disclosed seeking

20 federation April/May 2017 www.westmidspolfed.com