IT IS a positive step that the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) has signed a mental health pledge, but forces need to be more proactive, South Yorkshire Police Federation has said.<\/p>\n
The \u2018Mental Health at Work Commitment\u2019, which outlines a uniform set of standards for supporting the mental health of police officers, was signed at The Royal Foundation\u2019s Emergency Services Mental Health Symposium last month.<\/p>\n
The six standards include declaring that mental health is, and will remain, a strategic priority, and encouraging forces to promote an open culture around mental health.<\/p>\n
South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent said: \u201cI think police forces are very good at reacting to mental health crises. Credit where it\u2019s due, our force is investing heavily in the occupational health side of things and we\u2019ve got a lot of systems in place to deal with officers who are in that place already. There\u2019s phone APPS, there\u2019s support.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we\u2019re too reactive to mental health. We need to look at the root causes of it. Rather than reacting to the broken engines, let\u2019s not break the engines in the first place.<\/p>\n
\u201cI welcome this commitment, but we need to see it come out in practice, we need to see what that is going to look like for the officer on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve said it was good there was now a \u201cbenchmark\u201d, so that things could be improved.<\/p>\n
But he added: \u201cWe really do, fundamentally, have to look at the pressure-cooker environment that we\u2019re in as a first issue, rather than saying, \u2018An officer is broken, this is what we can do for them\u2019. It\u2019s too late. You might never get that officer back.\u201d<\/p>\n