Soaring sick leave among police call centre staff

POLICE call centres are again dogged by high sickness absence – less than a year after a dying woman was l eft trapped for three days.

Latest police papers show 9.2 per cent of staff dealing with emergency calls are signed off.

The latest figures will raise fresh concerns after police admitted ‘staffing levels were not sufficient’ at Bilston Glen, Midlothian, following the deaths of John Yuill, 28, and Lamara Bell, 25, on the M9, last July.

Mr Yuill died at the scene but Miss Bell was still alive when police finally arrived.

A Scottish Police Authority (SPA) report noted that in July, nearly 1,900 hours of overtime

‘Resourcing plans in place’

were used to maintain service levels. While Police Scotland later said sickness leave had dropped to a more typical 4.5 per cent, papers from last month showed it has since risen to a similar level.

The report states: ‘As at 2 February 2016, there were 101 staff members on sickness absence across C3 Division Area Control Rooms and Service Centres.

‘There are 40 members of police staff absent, which represents an absence level of 9.24 per cent.’

Chief Superintendent Alan Speirs, head of call handling, said: ‘ We have detailed resourcing plans in place to ensure service is not affected by sickness levels.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We continue to support [Police Scotland] to invest in frontline staff and officers and announced a further £1.4million in September to support command and control room operations, including recruitment.’