LOOKING after police officers\u2019 mental and physical health should be at the forefront of the proposed new Police Covenant.<\/p>\n
The Police Federation of England and Wales has asked the Government to guarantee better support and services for officers and their families \u2013 including for those who have retired from policing.<\/p>\n
It also says the Government and Chief Constables must be held accountable for delivering changes to policing.<\/p>\n
In its submission to the Home Office on the Police Covenant, the PFEW says that one in five officers suffer from undiagnosed PTSD. It is asking for specific mental health provisions for officers and for PTSD ring-fenced within the Police Covenant.<\/p>\n
The PFEW submission says that mental health issues are twice as likely to force officers to take significant time off work than physical injuries, costing the service between \u00a3189.8 million and \u00a3229.9 million every year.<\/p>\n
PFEW Chair John Apter said: \u201cThe Government should do more to protect police officers both physically and mentally. The challenges, dangers and threats officers face are often unpredictable, but their unique and selfless support means they adapt and deal with the unknown. The last few difficult weeks proves just this.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur colleagues on the frontline have been putting themselves and their families in harm\u2019s way to help save lives and ease the burden on the NHS; a testament to their dedication. It\u2019s only right that officers, police staff, retired colleagues and their families are given the support and recognition they deserve in return.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut this must be more than just a poster on the wall; the Covenant must be meaningful and enshrined in law so the Government and chiefs can be held accountable for delivering change. We will continue to seek the views of members to ensure this makes a positive tangible difference to the welfare and wellbeing support available for everyone in the police service and their loved ones who they couldn\u2019t do their incredible jobs without.\u201d<\/p>\n
The PFEW submission also calls for:
\n\u2022 Free prescriptions for police officers in England (officers in Wales already have this)
\n\u2022 Financial protection and support for officers\u2019 families \u2013 particularly if an officer has been seriously injured or lost their life
\n\u2022 A holistic approach to health and wellbeing, focusing on issues including finance, relationships, education and sleep
\n\u2022 Fast-tracked healthcare to ensure officers are fit for duty at the earliest opportunity
\n\u2022 National procurement for uniform and equipment, to end the current \u201cpostcode lottery\u201d
\n\u2022 Safe crewing \u2013 with recognition that single crewing can put officers in danger
\n\u2022 The creation of a \u2018Police Medal for Exemplary Service\u2019, which links the honours system to the National Police Bravery Awards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LOOKING after police officers\u2019 mental and physical health should be at the forefront of the proposed new Police Covenant. The Police Federation of England and Wales has asked the Government\u2026 read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":80745,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128271"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=128271"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128452,"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128271\/revisions\/128452"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/80745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=128271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=128271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=128271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}