OK conference and awards, November 2025
The OK conference and Awards took place recently. We had a fantastic time at Crewe Hall, and it was great so see so many of you at the main event and also at our OH break out session. We welcomed Faculty of OH Nursing chair Amanda Hinkley and had a lively interactive session on process mapping in OH.
We were delighted that we had ten entries for the OH award. This year, we changed the criteria for the OH awards to support the OH change programme. We were delighted, therefore, that every entry excelled, in its own way. We were impressed by the pride and passion in each entry. We really appreciate the forces that took the time to do a submission. They are all pathfinder forces that will help us to build our new vision for OH
And the winners were:
Winner Cumbria Constabulary - Supporting our Force to deliver to the communities of Cumbria through excellence in OH Provision.
Runner-up Civil Nuclear Constabulary - Recruitment and retention of a multi-disciplinary OH team – CNC Approach
Highly Commended:
PSNI – the Health & Wellbeing Team
West Midlands Police - Restructure of Department and Service Delivery
The awards will run again next year, please consider putting in an entry. Start thinking about it now and let’s celebrate even more great OH practice.
You can find out more about the Oscar Kilo Awards, read about the 2025 winning projects and find out how to enter on our website here.
Networks
The Practitioner Network celebrated its 2nd anniversary in October. Membership continues to grow; everyone who works in OH is welcome to join the main Network and request to join a special interest group and to access the OH practitioner specific area in the OK website. The OK website is the home of all the information we publish either on the main site or in the practitioner specific site. Please make sure that you have a log in.
Everyone is welcome to the virtual meetings, and we will publish the dates of all the meetings for the next year so that you can get them in your busy calendars well ahead of time.
Special interest groups:
These groups provide a safe space for practitioners to share and discuss current issues.
Managers forum
This group meets virtually every two months and is co-chaired by Emma Liddle from Cambs, Herts and Beds. It is an important forum, and we know OH managers appreciate the opportunity to connect with colleagues.
OH Technicians group
This group meets every three months and has grown 50 members. It is co-chaired by Helen Vasey from Durham. Please ensure that your technicians and screening nurses know about this group as it provides important connections and CPD opportunities.
CMO Medical forum
This group is chaired by John and meets every three months. This is a great resource and engagement point for FMAs and SMPs
Mental Health Nurses (MHN) group
This is an essential “go to” group for MHNs in forces. The membership is small, but it is likely that it will grow as more forces employ MHNs.
Physio group
The number of direct physios in forces is small; however, this group provides vital connections with colleagues to share experiences and best practice.
The OK website and Good Practice Hub
The Good Practice Library is accessed through the practitioner member page. There are currently 41 documents in the library. This includes information, guidance and clinical protocols. Also available are all the documents relating to police officer recruitment.
If you have any templates or protocols you would like to share, please do make contact.
Recently added:
- Night Worker Assessments- guidance and template
- OH Service Delivery Catalogue- template
- Functional Hearing Assessments – guidance
- Clinical protocol - Colour Vision Testing
National guidance on the referral to the SMP for the assessment of permanent medical unfitness of police officers
This guidance produced by NPCC/NPWS/College of Policing is now published; here is the link:
Guidance: Ill health retirement for police officers
Coming soon:
- OH Organisational Data Pack - Guidance and template
- Contract Processes in OH - Guidance
- Mental Health Nurses - Scope of practice and job description templates
- Physiotherapy - Scope of practice
OH Data
The importance of data insights cannot be overestimated.
OH Standards tracker and data
Thank you to all those who returned updated trackers, we now have returns from 41/43 forces. It is good to see so manty forces working towards the Enhanced Standards, and we will continue to inform, guide and support. Every force who submits an updated tracker will receive a dashboard which they can use internally and externally
OH health needs (referrals)tracker
Whilst the OH standards tracker is a self-reporting tool, the OH referral tracker give a real time picture of the demands and activities in OH, that information laid over other wellbeing data is a powerful tool. This gives factual information about what is actually happening in OH, rather than anecdotal. This is your data, and you can use the information to report to your force or externally to build business cases or create a better understanding of your service.
OH software user groups
OH software is an essential tool, in managing effective OH services. Whilst NPWS is not able to endorse any specific software package, we think that it is important that whatever software package is used that it is deployed with maximum efficiency. There are currently two user groups running to bring together users of the two main software systems to share issues and promote best practice. If you are using software or considering procurement, please come along to a group. For more information please get in touch.
Update from our Chief Medical Officer
There is a saying, if you want something done, ask a busy person. According to my AI overview, this has been attributed to Benjamin Franklin. Well, everyone is busy and I’m asking. As we take stock in the post-conference aftermath, we have identified things that will require our attention. The document Reforming Police Occupational Health has been published. This contains the action plan to take forward A Prospectus for Change. There are different facets to the change programme. Looking at how occupational health services function and how they integrate with wider police operational systems will be a key focus. I am in the process of establishing working groups to take this forward. Thank you to everyone who has agreed to support this work. Depending on final numbers, I might be coming to ask you for assistance. At the conference, we started a conversation about the use of process mapping to help us understand better how things are done. We need to do more of this. This is not about the right way or the wrong way of doing things. Rather it is about understanding how we do things across 43 forces. In having these conversations, it might be that we can learn from each other and implement changes.
Two areas that we will be paying particular attention with respect to the role of occupational health are sickness absence management and suicide risk management. In both cases, efficient and effective implementation is wider than occupational health. By working backwards from specified outcomes, we can identify what works well and opportunities for improvement. Importantly, this will help with conversations about what occupational health is, and what it isn’t. What does good occupational health in the police look like and how can we ensure that it delivers not only value for money but added value to organisations.
Liz and I will be planning our activity for 2026. We will be discussing how we deliver the action plan, working with the occupational health practitioner network and the subgroups of it. We will need a collective approach; hence I am asking. As has been said previously, if we are to build our cathedral, we each need to bring a brick. Thank you for everything you have done to support us in 2025. I wish you all a merry Christmas and look forward to an exciting New Year.
Professor John Harrison, National Police CMO for England and Wales.
Psychological and trauma risk management workstream update from Zoe Davenport, programme lead
In 2025 we launched two new courses; the Peer Debriefing and Supervisor Support Models both of which have become central to many forces training We have developed guidance for major incidents and most recently guidance on support for officers undergoing misconduct investigations. The therapist working group has grown to 65 members with cross border working relationships, sharing of best practice and new research being this year’s achievements.
In 2026 we will be looking at creating a policy library, minimum standards guidelines for therapy services and concentrating on practitioner wellbeing. We will also be setting up a working group for those using or wanting to use a trauma tracker in their force. And look out for the new HEART guidance which will be replacing STRICT next year.
Workforce Prioritisation Guidance information, Paul Fotheringham
We thought that it may be helpful to provide you with information on the WPG that is now replacing Blue Light Wellbeing Framework next year. Paul Fotheringham who leads on this in NPWS has put together some information below.
Oscar Kilo has now launched the Workforce Prioritisation Guidance (WPG), which replaces the Blue Light Wellbeing Framework from January 2026. The WPG marks a step-change in how forces understand and support workforce wellbeing. It streamlines the old process, reduces administrative burden and gives forces a clearer, evidence-based view of ‘what good looks like’.
Built around six priority areas – including trauma, suicide prevention, fatigue risk management and Occupational Health standards – the WPG provides a concise organisational self-assessment and supports stronger governance, prevention-focused activity and smarter use of data. It underpins the National Health & Wellbeing Strategy, supports the Police Covenant and aligns to HMICFRS expectations. Forces can now access the new WPG, national network and resources via Oscar Kilo, with BLWF access being withdrawn in January.
Find out more about WPG
2026 dates for diaries:
Whole Network meeting: 19th February 2026. We are welcoming a guest speaker, Mandy Murphy to tell us about health coaching in OH.
Managers Forum: 10th February 2026
CMO forum meeting: 15th January 2026
OHT Group Meeting: 6th January 2026
Mental Health Nurses group meeting: 10th February 2026
Physio meetings: 3rd February 2026
OHNAPS event (virtual) 26th February 2026
Suicide awareness for OH - details to follow
Are you passionate about Occupational Health? Do you want to help shape the future of OH by offering a practical insight to those considering a career in our vital field? Consider hosting shadow days!
Use the link below to download a leaflet from the National School of Occupational Health and SOM about hosting a shadow day.
Shadow day leaflet
