200,000 days off in three years for stressed police

STRESSED Police Scotland workers have taken nearly 200,000 sick days in the last three years.

According to figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats, police officers struggling with mental health issues have taken 141,230 sick days since 2013 – the year Scotland’s regional forces were merged into one.

In addition, civilian staff accounted for 54,019 mental health sick days over the same period.

The Scottish Police Federation ( SPF) has spent the summer highlighting the ways its members are under pressure from budget cuts, including claims of overtime clampdowns and officers sent to charity shops to source equipment.

The SPF says its members are currently due more than 25,000 rest days.

And Lib Dem justice spokesman Liam McArthur MSP said his figures were evidence of a force “being stretched to breaking point”.

He said: “Police officers and civilian staff work tirelessly to help keep us safe every day in communities across Scotland.

“But they are not getting the support they need from the Government.

“The savings that were promised by the SNP before the creation of Police Scotland have not materialised.

“As a result, officers and civilian staff are being asked to do more and more with less. We have already seen staff surveys which show morale is at rock bottom.

“The shortages are affecting the health of officers and civilian staff and these new figures are a huge concern.

“Policing is a high- stress profession at the best of times.

“The changes the SNP forced through are stretching the mental health of officers and civilian staff to breaking point.

“This means giving police management the freedom to put resources where they’re needed.”

Last week, a damning report claimed police inspectors are close to breaking point. The study revealed the extent of overtime inspectors had been forced to work due to budget cuts.

The number of extra hours was said to be the equivalent of having an extra 392 officers. It claimed Police Scotland would need to increase the number of inspectors by a third to keep up with demand.

Chief Constable Phil Gormley has raised fears his force would continue to overspend its £1 billion annual budget until 2019.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Police officers and support staff do an excellent job and their welfare is taken very seriously.

“We expect Police Scotland to have robust policies to support staff and manage their health at work and they have a number of targeted activities to support wellbeing across the organisation.

“We have committed to protecting the police revenue budget in real terms, delivering an additional £ 100 million of investment by the end of this Parliament, in addition to £55m of reform funding in 2016-17.”