Scottish police and staff struggling with wellbeing

At least one Police Scotland officer or staff member is referred for counselling on average every day according to a report in Scotland’s justice and social affairs magazine 1919

Almost 1,000 calls were made to a phoneline which helps the force’s struggling employees deal with wellbeing matters, money worries and concerns over job stress or bullying and harassment. Of the 985 calls made to the helpline last year to November, 610 people took part in a mental health assessment, with 387 being referred for counselling.

The Scottish Police Federation (SPF) warned these numbers were just the tip of the iceberg. The figures have emerged as Holyrood’s criminal justice committee demands answers over the force’s policies and procedures when dealing with employees experiencing mental ill-health. In response to a letter sent by the committee, Deputy Chief Officer David Page said Police Scotland recognised that the “significant demands placed on both police officers and staff are ever increasing, which in turn increases the stresses and strain they are under in terms of their own health and wellbeing and in particular their mental health”. He outlined a range of services on offer to officers and staff, including the helpline – called the HELP Employee Assistance Programme – which he described as the “primary means of support for officers to self-refer to for advice and support with stressors”.

Responding to the committee, he wrote: “The 24/7 programme offers professional support and guidance via a team of trained wellbeing and counselling practitioners who offer confidential, independent and unbiased information and guidance.” Last year, 1919 revealed almost 77,000 working days were lost as a result of “psychological disorders” in 2021/22. It was a 22 per cent jump from 62,783 in a five-year period and brings the total number of mental health absences since 2017/18 to more than 350,000.

David Hamilton, Chair of the SPF, described it as a “crisis”. He said: “Police Scotland’s own figures are really bad, but the true figures are even worse. “In addition to these cases, many officers are having to seek counselling options through the NHS, by self-funding or through charities such as Police Care UK. “The nature and experiences of policing make officers particularly vulnerable to mental ill-health and it is no exaggeration to say that this is a crisis.” Justice committee convener Audrey Nicoll wrote to both Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority in October requesting an urgent review of several procedures following private evidence sessions with six officers. She has now asked for further clarification on a number of points, including the helpline, after stating the Police Scotland response did not address all of the committee’s specific requests.

Nicoll said: “Some of the officers raised issues with the adequacy of the employee assistance line, as it is not just for police officers and the operators cannot always provide the required assistance. “One of the officers told the committee that he called the employee assistance line when in crisis and was told to ‘phone back later’. “When he called back an hour later, he was told ‘we can’t help you’, as he did not meet their specific criteria. He recommended that a specific helpline for police officers be provided.”

The committee has asked Police Scotland to consider the issues raised and how they can be addressed to ensure everyone is given help when they call, including the option of providing a dedicated line for police officers. Overall, Nicoll said that the response provided by Page “did not include an acknowledgement of the experiences described by the police officers who spoke to us informally and which outlined what they considered as shortcomings in the support and advice they received when they experienced mental health issues”.