Dear Colleagues, welcome to the autumn newsletter. As the festive season approaches, we are pleased to update you about the world of OH in policing.
In this newsletter we have updates on the Network and the OH standards tracker. Professor John Harrison brings us up to speed about vetting and OH. There is information about the police treatment facilities at Harrogate, Flint House, and the Ben Fund. Dan Gillard, Chair of OHNAPS provides feedback on their recent conference. We also hear from Emma Liddell co-chair of the Managers’ forum who has written a piece for us about her career journey.
We are really looking forward to seeing some of you at the OK conference in December where we will host the prestigious OK Awards. Finally, please take a look at the “Dates for Diaries” section, it certainly is a busy few weeks ahead.
Happy reading
Liz, John, and Claire
Network Update
The Practitioner Network continues to grow, we have just welcomed our 200th member. Remember that membership of the network is free and open to anyone working in or with OH. We are currently updating the Terms of Reference for our network and these will be published in the New Year.
October Online Meeting
The last Network meeting was held on 17 October. Here are the highlights:
Perinatal mental health in policing
We had a very informative and interesting presentation from the academic team that have been working with GMP to understand this unacknowledged/unknown subject which affects 1 in 5 pregnancies. We also heard from the National Lead for Perinatal mental health in policing about the “Blue Minds” initiative which works towards raising awareness of Perinatal Mental Health conditions within the policing community & provides support to those in the workforce impacted by these conditions. They are keen to promote the perinatal mental health toolkit and start the conversation.
Occupational therapy in OH
Jo Vallom-Smith from the Royal College of Occupational Therapists delivered a thought provoking presentation about the use of OTs in an OH setting. Jo gave us a detailed understanding of the role and demonstrated its versatility and the contexts in which Ots can be used to add value to the workplace offering.
The next virtual Network meeting will be 20 February 2025, more details will follow.
Special Interest Groups
The special interest Groups (SIGs) continue to gain traction. In addition to our established SIGs we now have two active regional groups. We don’t want people to feel “grouped out” and so NPWS will not be setting up any further groups at this time (although there is nothing stopping the remaining regions from starting up their own groups). Our goal has always been that both the network and the groups are self-sustaining and we will be looking for members to take a bigger role as we move forward.
CMO Medical Forum
The medical forum chaired by John held its last meeting in October. Two key topics on the agenda were a legal update and the recruit medical standards guidance.
Managers Forum
The Managers forum continues as a strong group co-chaired by Emma Liddell. Meeting every two months. We are looking forward to the December face to face event.
OH Technicians Group
The OH technicians group now has 30 members. The next meeting will be on 5 December and will be a two hour workshop covering the OH assessments of police recruits.
Physio Group
The physio group held its first meeting in September. As the group is in its infancy, it is still relatively small so please do make your physio colleagues aware of its existence. The next meeting is 29 November.
Mental Health Nurse Group
This group also had its first meeting in September. The number of mental health nurses in OH is increasing and the first aim of the group is to develop a job profile. The next meeting is scheduled for17th December.
There are currently two Regional Groups:
Northern group met 7 November at the PTC, Harrogate. A good attendance of 30 heard a variety of great speakers. Many thanks to Angela Power for organising this event.
The four Welsh forces currently meet monthly.
OH Tracker update – Claire Long
All forces should now have received their standards tracker.
The tracker is a management tool designed to help you track progress towards achievement of the OH standards and any associated actions that you need to take.
Thank you all for the feedback we have received. We know many of you have already started work on capturing your evidence.
One of the things you asked for was a masterclass so that you could be sure you were capturing the right evidence and maximising its use. So as requested we have scheduled a masterclass led by Liz on the 26thNovember at 12.00 noon. Please do send us your questions in advance so that we can make the most of the time we have.
We will be asking to take a look at your trackers in January so that we can see how you are performing against the standards set. This will provide valuable data and help us direct our support to the areas where it is needed.
Chief Medical Officer for Policing: Update
Vetting and OH
The Angiolini Inquiry Part 1 Report (February 2024) included the following statement:
“Policing needs to grasp fully the extent of the cultural problems it faces and the way that this affects the public it serves. It needs to do more than make further changes to policies, guidance and training, although these are important and worthwhile. All policing leaders need to rethink fundamentally how they lead their organisations to ensure that certain types of behaviour, from the unacceptable to the criminal, are never tolerated.”
There has been an understandable focus on vetting procedures in relation to the recruitment process. The vetting Code of Practice 2023 states that:
1.4 Vetting is an integral part of a police force’s framework of ethics and professional standards. Vetting must form part of a wider security regime, rather than being used in isolation. It assists with identifying individuals who are unsuitable to work within the police service, or to have access to police assets. This includes people who:
- are unsuitable through criminal activity or association
- pose a risk to the public and to those who are particularly vulnerable
- have a demonstrable lack of honesty
- have previously behaved in a manner that is inconsistent with the standards of professional behaviour
- are financially vulnerable.
Vetting assesses the conduct, honesty, integrity, trustworthiness, maturity, reliability and overall suitability for clearance of all those working in or with policing. This is part of a risk management responsibility. Personal integrity may be relevant to many risks, including vulnerability of applicants, public safety, corruption or coercion, integrity of the force and public trust and confidence in the police. Occupational health may have a part to play in helping Force Vetting Units fulfil their duty of care.
I feel sure that we have all come across instances when applicants for police officer or police staff roles have either omitted important information about their medical histories or have been somewhat economical with the truth. Sometimes this comes to light when GPs sign off the health information contained on the pre-placement health questionnaire. I can recall several occasions when a GP has added information and/or has made a comment about suitability for the role applied for. Is this failure to declare information or being economical with the truth an integrity issue? The answer is, 'it will depend'. However, it is not the role of occupational health to determine this. The responsibility rests with the Force Vetting Unit. However, there is an onus on occupational health professionals in the police, who all work within the police code of ethics and the vetting standards, to make a judgment about whether to refer an application to the vetting unit. Similarly, there is a duty to respond to Force Vetting Unit’s concerns about potential risks to employing an applicant because it has received medical information suggesting that a risk exists. Whilst such situations are uncommon, they may be complicated and/or complex. Each case will have to be assessed on its merits and the medical and police ethics contemplated and discussed. Guidance is being produced to help occupational health practitioners navigate around uncertainties and to have the confidence to do the right thing. This will be developed through the occupational health practitioner network
John Harrison, CMO.
Supporting the health and wellbeing of the policing profession: PTC, Flint House and the Ben Fund.
We have been talking to our friends and colleagues at the three police treatment facilities about the services they offer. They are all very keen to engage with OH and ensure that everyone is aware of what they do:
Police Treatment Centres (PTC)
The Police Treatment Centres are available by subscription are situated in Harrogate and Auchterarder (Perthshire) PTCs offer tailored and comprehensive physiotherapy and psychological wellbeing support to the serving police workforce as well as retired officers. This is offered by residential programmes, also online support such as physio, women’s health and JRFT support is offered.
Flint House
Flint House, available by subscription is situated in Oxfordshire; Flint House offers specialised support to serving and retired police officers.
Offers include:
- Physical rehabilitation
- Residential mental health programme
JRFT - conditioning programme
The Ben Fund
The Ben Fund is available by subscription in six north west forces Lancashire, Cheshire, Cumbria, GMP, Merseyside and North Wales as well as NCA.
Offers include;
- Physiotherapy treatment
- Holistic Treatments available including mindfulness, massage and alternative therapies
- Counselling service provided to members on a self-referral and confidential basis
- They also provide respite breaks to members and their families, wellbeing stays, discounted holiday breaks, financial hardship assistance via grants and short term loan mobility aids.
Further information and guidance for OH about Flint House and the PTCs will be published on the practitioner pages of the website soon.
Funding secured
Following recent riots (Op Navette) funding has been secured by NPWS Oscar Kilo from the Royal Foundation and Blue Light to help police officers who were involved and may require treatment at one of the three centres above, regardless of membership. The funding is limited, and referrals can only come through OH on a case by case basis and will be subject to the clinical criteria stipulated by each centre. If you do have a potential case please contact the facility to discuss further.
OHNAPS Conference 2024 Review–Dan Gillard, Chair
Thank you to all 60 delegates who attended the 2024 conference at the College of Policing, Ryton. Both the Baroness Casey Review and Angiolini Inquiry have implications for OH and the OHNAPS committee thought it was important to address these at the annual conference.
Diana Kloss was invited to speak but politely declined. The question she was asked to address was: “Should you ask for OH records when an officer is transferred between Police Services? - , when to share information and what can be shared, with or without consent.” Her answer was: Your question is very complex, but the basic principles of consent and confidentiality remain much the same. OH records are confidential and should normally not be disclosed without consent, but there are exceptions, one of which is where it is in the public interest to do so to protect others.
The job of OH is to advise the employer on fitness for work. As the fitness of a police officer is important for the protection of the public, doubts about the physical or mental health of a police officer may need to be disclosed to the proper authorities without consent which is a question of judgment in each case. There can be little doubt that information about Couzens should have been revealed long before he murdered Sarah Everard.
We also benefitted from a stimulating presentation from Marcus Griffiths and Sarah-Jane Aston from CoP Vetting. I think we all will reassess how we view any information given to OH through the various channels. The example given, was that of an OH clinician who noticed during an OH assessment that a PC recruit had not disclosed that they had had a recent minor operation (appendicectomy). When the presenter asked, “Who would report that to vetting?” three hands were raised. A recent appendicectomy is very unlikely to present any problems re the physical assessment for a PC and does not appear significant. The questionnaire asks for all health information and there is a higher level of declaration from police officers than members of the public. If the question from vetting was asked after the presentation, there would have been more than three hands raised. It is important for OH to understand the valuable role we play for the protection of the organisation and public and to be able to undertake this duty without compromising confidentiality. – Guidance from the CoP for this will be placed on the Good Practice Hub very soon.
Professor John Harrison presented on the new medical standards, and this was complimented by Victoria Kennerdale the physiotherapist from West Midlands Police. She kindly agreed that her presentation is adapted to use for national guidance – once again check the Good Practice Hub.
Dr Maryjo Hart, Principal Psychologist at PSNI also present on the excellent work being done in Northern Ireland for our officers.
A number of other topics were covered, and knowledge shared with the delegates and colleagues over the two days, as always we work towards improving OH in the police.
The unknown is a real threat for our front-line police. Assessing officers’ fitness for CBRN, the programme for 2024 was not able to include this important topic and improving the psychological resilience is high on the list for the OHNAPS committee and CoP.
This year’s conference was considered a success and valuable use of time with many opportunities to network. The likely dates for 2025 are 9 & 10 October.
My Journey into Occupational Health by Emma Liddell
I am aware my journey into occupational health in policing is not a linear one… 20 years ago, if someone had asked me if I thought I would be an OHU manager I would have said ‘what is OH?’
To be honest I never really thought about the Police or healthcare growing up or even when looking for career options, however I relocated down to Devon soon after graduating from university and the grim reality to the lack of employment soon hit home.
I ended up working in the Police Control room for Devon & Cornwall Police. If I’m honest I joined on the off chance, and because the money looked good and there was job stability, after all I only planned on being there a few years.
I soon realised this calling can come with a price; I was dispatching officers to deal with horrendous and sometimes heart-breaking things It was then I started training in Psychotherapy and Trauma. 3 years later the OHU Manager of Hertfordshire took a chance on a very newly qualified therapist and my career in OHU began.
17 years on I have now worked across 5 Forces in total and thought my career would always be that of a therapist and when an unexpected turn of events I found myself the occupational and Psychological Health Manager of one the same forces I started my counselling career with.
When taking on the role, personally it felt like a baptism of fire. I struggled with a huge amount of imposter thinking and having to get my head around the OH side of OHU, and having been a therapist for a long period of time the change was daunting, and I was worried people wouldn’t respect me as I didn’t come from a nursing background.
In honesty, it couldn’t have been further from the truth. My management team welcomed me with open arms and trust as did the wider team. With their support we embarked on a colossal journey focusing on clinical governance and standards, setting out service expectations. I learnt about contract management and procurement processes as well as focusing on looking at improving our relationship with HR and the three police services we support. I had to change my whole mindset, constantly thinking about the bigger picture in conjunction with team wellbeing and morale, budget constraints and organisational demand as well as improving our reputation.
For me there is still a long way to go in the service, but I have the trust and confidence in my team and my manager that we will get there, and I see my job has helping my team achieve that. I love the challenge, the variety and autonomy that my role has where I can genuinely feel I can help influence positive change. It is a pleasure to support Liz with the NPWS managers network and bring a new level of support across policing for those of us in similar roles.
Most importantly I am proud and privileged enough to say that I also have professional, compassionate, and capable team behind me that can support, encourage, and rebuild lives with those that have given their career and, in many ways, so much more, to help others.
Emma Liddell
If you want to tell us about your career journey, please do get in touch, its great to hear from you. We need to celebrate what we do!
Dates for you diaries:
26 November- OH standards Tracker workshop ( virtual) 12.00 -13.00
29 November - Physio Group ( virtual) 12.00- 13.00
2- 4 December: Oscar Kilo Conference and Awards including OH Managers Day on 4 December: Face to face event
5 December – CPD workshop tier two OH (OHT) ( virtual)13.00-15.00
17 December- Mental Health Nurses group ( virtual) 12.00-13.00
23 January 2025- CMO Medical Forum