Police officers at breaking point with record numbers off work due to mental health problems

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Scotland’s police officers are at breaking point with record numbers off work each week due to mental health problems.New figures obtained by the Sunday Mail show that 59,073 work days were lost in the 12 months to March with officers suffering conditions such as stress, anxiety, depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.Last night David Kennedy, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, said they were pushed to their limits due to cutbacks.He said: “Cops are bust – it is the only way of describing the situation.

These figures back that up. “There are so many pressures now. From the moment they start they are rammed with work to the moment they finish 10 hours later.” The figure of 59,073 compares to 51,290 lost days in the same period 2021/22 and 35,283 in 2018/19.Absences for civilian staff are higher, with 22,828 days lost to mental health problems in 2022/23, up from 8625 five years ago.Police Scotland has 16,600 officers, the lowest in the 10 years since it was formed.Kennedy said: “This is having an impact on health, physically and ­mentally.

They are not ­getting breaks. When officers go to a 999 call, they are bombarded with more calls. They do not get time to do the job properly.“If they do make mistakes, that adds to the stress levels.”Overall the numbers of days lost to mental health problems by police and civilian staff has almost doubled from 43,906 to 81,901 since 2018.

As of September 30, 202 officers and 94 civilians were off due to mental health – many long term. The figures, obtained under Freedom of Information, follow a warning from Chief Constable Jo Farrell, who claimed that without additional Scottish Government funding of £128million numbers could fall by another 1500.Earlier this