‘Concerning’ Rise In Officers Signed Off For Mental Health

In South Yorkshire, 189 police officers were signed off work last year due to stress, depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder, a Freedom of Information request has revealed.

Across the UK, over 17,700 police officers were signed off for mental health reasons in the financial year 2024-25, which is 22% up on last year and a huge 182% higher than when Police Oracle first ran the survey 12 years ago.

Of the 45 forces that provided figures both this year and last year, 33 reported an increased number of officers being signed off for mental ill health.

The National Police Wellbeing Service, Oscar Kilo, has just launched a mental health phone line for officers.

South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent described the figures as “concerning”, but had expected the figures in South Yorkshire to be even higher.

He said: “I expected the numbers to be far higher with what’s going off in our force and the work pressure people are under.

“The important thing is that people feel comfortable reaching out, whether it’s themselves or colleagues reaching out on behalf of people who they’re concerned about.

“Thankfully, I’ve seen that increase where people refer themselves in almost every couple of days. So we just need to carry on and make it more acceptable to talk about things.

And I think this phone line is very helpful if people really do feel down about things or are concerned about things, that they can actually contact them. It’s another tool for officers to try and help themselves.

“As a force we’re good at reacting to mental health, but we’re not good at preventing it. But this will help, if people can nip things in the bud early, or at least get some support early, then that’s got to be a good thing.”