Staying up beat about officer welfare

“AN absence of illness does not mean that people are well.”

Those were the words of Lancashire Police’s Chief Constable, Andy Rhodes, as he addressed The Police Dependants Trusts UpBeat! Conference this month.

UpBeat! – the PDT’s annual conference – took place recently and saw influential members of the police family come together to discuss one of modern day policing’s biggest issues – the wellbeing of those on the frontline.

CC Rhodes, closed the conference with an update on the National Wellbeing Strategy, and the Blue Light Framework.

Mr Rhodes, who is also the National NPCC Lead for Wellbeing, said that the progress being made so far regarding wellbeing is ‘exciting’ and hopes it will fulfil the potential of providing a first class wellbeing support system for policing.

In his closing words, he said, “people are overworked, and they are stressed because of it.

“Forces need to stop having a standardised approach to wellbeing.

“We need to be putting wellbeing at the front of decision making – not at the back.”

Initiatives and ideas for how mental health and wellbeing in modern policing could further be improved were also discussed at the conference.

Gill Scott-Moore, CEO of The Police Dependants Trust said, “with thousands of officers not getting the welfare they need and deserve, we must do more.”

The conference heard from representatives from forces, including Essex, Surrey, Staffordshire and Lancashire who shared how they were supporting wellbeing – from a wellbeing app, to in-station contemplation rooms, to a sleep support programme.

Retired Metropolitan Police Officer, John Sutherland, took to the stage to discuss his own personal story on mental health.

Reading from his ward winning memoir Blue, John spoke about the strain that policing is currently under, and the toll this takes on officers.

He described it as ‘the most challenging time for policing since the Second World War.”

Matt Jukes QPM was joined by research assistant Helen Oliver to share their research on keeping ‘match fit’ – how physical activity can have a positive impact on the wellbeing of police officers.