Sick days by Welsh police force have doubled in seven years
THE number of sick days recorded by a Welsh police force have more than doubled in seven years, figures have revealed.
In 2010, North Wales Police had a total of 9,288 sick days, but that increased to 19,828 in 2017.
The figures, revealed following a Freedom of Information (FoI) request, also showed more police are taking time off work for mental health reasons. During 2010, there were 55 days off taken for mental health reasons, but that had nearly doubled to 108 in 2017.
North Wales Police Federation chairman Simon Newport said cuts to local authority services meant police were increasingly taking up the slack in other areas as budget cuts bite.
“In North Wales, we are quite lucky that we have approximately the same number of officers,” said Mr Newport.
“However, the demands are increasing. With cuts to councils, the NHS and mental health services, everything slips down to the police.
“Now we are dealing with people with mental health or housing issues or families in crisis, and budgets are getting ever tighter.”
Mr Newport said officers worked changing shift patterns through the night and day and were often in situations where they had to make split-second decisions that “could affect people’s lives”.
“We are very accountable, and if anything goes wrong we may face months of scrutiny,” he said.
Mr Newport added that there was now a greater awareness of mental health problems and officers were more willing to discuss them.
The FoI response said the force was providing support where possible, including counselling and a programme to support officers’ mental health.
It said: “North Wales Police have an in-house occupational service provision and the force funds external support services where appropriate, such as counselling.
“Officers are also able to attend rehabilitation and support centres within the UK, via the Police Federation.
“The force supports staff with a formal Critical Incident Debrief process following a major incident,” they added.
“Sickness absence is monitored at a local and strategic level to enable stakeholders to consider individual circumstances and offer support and/or signposting as necessary.
“The force is currently developing a programme to support the mental health wellbeing of its staff as part of its Lifestyle Matters Health and Wellbeing Programme.”