Rising levels of stress blamed for increase in Staffordshire Police sick days
RISING stress levels blamed on job cuts and forced retirements at Staffordshire Police have led to more than 7,000 days lost to the illness in a year.
Figures released today show officers took 3,141 sick days for 'psychological disorders' like stress and depression in 2011/12, while civilian staff took 3,937.
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STRESS: Staffordshire Police officers took 3,141 days off sick for 'psychological disorders' during 2011/12.
It means the total amount of sick days lost to stress increased from 6,865 to 7,707 a year earlier – despite the force employing hundreds fewer officers and staff.
Stress has become the second biggest cause of sickness at the force behind muscular and skeletal injuries, which includes broken bones, pulled muscles and back complaints, and claimed 11,049 days last year.
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Staffordshire Police Federation had always warned stress levels would rise with budget cuts and forced retirements through the A19 regulation.
Officer numbers have fallen from 2,089 last year to 1,919 this month. Police staff numbers have dropped from 1,462 to 1,179 over the same period.
Chairman Andy Adams said: "There is a lot more pressure now.
"There are less people out on the street doing the job but the same high standards are expected.
"It comes as no surprise that people are feeling anxious and vulnerable about going to work and it could get worse.
"People are concerned about their roles and their job."
Figures show the force lost 35,517 days to sickness absence in 2011/12, compared with 37,770 in 2010/11. The average officer took more than 9.5 days off due to illness in 2011/12 – up from 8.5 days in 2010/11.
The county's 209 police community support officers (PCSOs) took an average of almost 11 days off sick each, up from 9.8 days. Police staff took an average of 9.2 days.
Staffordshire Police Authority has demanded the breakdown of sickness figures ahead of a meeting on Monday.
Staffordshire Police are missing their target of an average of 8.5 sick days – which is already above the 6.8 days private-sector average.
Frank Chapman, a former police officer who now serves on the police authority's HR committee, said: "There are a lot of pressures in society with the economic situation and I would imagine the police force is not alone in experiencing an increase in stress levels.
"We have to bring the sickness levels down, in the interests of the individual as much as anything else."
Almost 200 Staffordshire bobbies are currently classed as having some level of restriction to their duties. Fifty-six of them are on a recuperative programme ahead of them returning to full operational duty.
A Staffordshire Police spokesman said: "The duties of police officers are often particularly onerous and can, at times, be dangerous.
"For these and other reasons individuals may, from time to time, be absent from duty because of illness.
"We continue to try to reduce our sickness rates for officers and police staff.
"Briefings have taken place across the force recently to remind managers about the importance of early intervention to deal with attendance issues."
Comments
by P1DEANO
Friday, August 03 2012, 12:07AM
“Who honestly wants anything to do with the Police these days - all they seem hell bent on doing is handing out fines. They seem to forget their purpose is to uphold common law and prevent breaches of the peace!”
by kitcrew
Thursday, July 05 2012, 10:46PM
“Yes I would”
by thomasthedog
Thursday, July 05 2012, 10:40PM
“KITCREW Would you be saying " As much sympathy for them as they gave the miners " if one of these brave police officers saved the life of one of your family",MY DAD WAS A MINER FOR 47 YEARS ".”
by kitcrew
Thursday, July 05 2012, 7:03PM
“As much sympathy for them as they gave the miners”
by johnboy2011
Thursday, July 05 2012, 4:56PM
“Quite right scfcscfc08.
It was Thatchers Tory goverment that created this benefit culture, but people have short memeries. When Labour took over in 1997 the country was aready in a mess”
by yamahaman
Thursday, July 05 2012, 4:22PM
“Less front line staff will result in more sickness, yes move those officers who may be slinging the lead but give the genuine ones the support they deserve. I wonder how many HR and other none productive posts have been lost by the force with the reduction of officers ?
Policing must be a tough job at times.
I have no doubt that the keyboard warriors will start the normal mudslinging from the safety of their homes.
But the continual loss of officers and no recruitment will make this sickness problem worse for sure.”
by Miltonmicky
Thursday, July 05 2012, 2:09PM
“Come on Sentinel....get it right, the officers in the photo are not Staffs officers....look at their helmets.”
by stokeandvale
Thursday, July 05 2012, 12:46PM
“scfcscfc.
Terrible mess, especially when Flash told us there would be "NO MORE BOOM & BUST" and left the Cameron with a national debt of £9900000000000000000000Trillion"..little tickers those Liebour boys.”
by mediamaniaX
Thursday, July 05 2012, 12:40PM
“This unfortunately will get worse before it gets better. More officers are attending dangerous & volatile incidents alone resulting in them being assaulted.
Without the pool of officers to select from for operations & special events, the frontline are being used and abused at all hours of the day & night. They cannot refuse & if ordered to travel 200miles in one 20hour shift, there is little that can be done!!
The thin blue line can only be stretched so far. Unfortunately all the spin in the world cannot evade the reality of the unfortunate, negative future for British policing.”
by scfcscfc08
Thursday, July 05 2012, 10:53AM
“I feel sorry for them and anyone threatened with redundancy. The miners took a big hit in the 80s and had a certain group of workers were waving their inflated pay cheques at them in the Agincourt two fingered style as the miners took action to protect their livelihoods.
That, if I remember correctly, was the time of an escalation of DLA as people thrown on the scrapheap suffered all kinds of stresses and DLA was more or less given out on prescription. The iron lady chose to spend North Sea Oil on DLA and unemployment rather than improving the economy because they, like now, couldn't manage and people paid with their jobs and of course the unemployed couldn't strike against government and company incompetence.
Nothing changes under the Tories. Tax cuts for the rich (if they pay any tax) to spend the money abroad and not at home in our economy, bankers and CEOs paid huge salaries and even bigger bonuses, their loveliness goes on and on.
I'd sooner have the police, miners, potters, in fact all decent hard working people than the fat faced true blue gamblers who've landed us in this mess.”