BEST PRACTICE
PUTTING WELLBEING AT THE HEART OF EVERYTHING
A local Federation whose innovative mental and physical health support services, going above and beyond to support more than 2,500 police officers, has been praised by the National Chief Police Medical Officer
Back in April 2020, after a complete redesign of its office space, Northumbria Police Federation launched a range of services and initiatives for its members, including physiotherapy, chiropractic treatment, psychotherapy (including EMDR for the treatment of trauma), counselling, group therapy sessions, and mental health first aid training. The branch has funded all of this from their additional, ‘non-Federation subscription’ income streams. A team of clinicians, including three physiotherapists, a chiropractor, a sports massage therapist, and two psychotherapists provide these services throughout the week. Jim Gray, Northumbria Police
Federation chair, said: “We see an incredible number of members come through our door now. This Federation office is alive, when it previously had the feel of the ‘Carlsberg complaints
34 | POLICE | APRIL | 2024
department’. “As a local Federation team, we embarked on a journey to make our services as relevant as possible to the needs of our members. So, over and above making sure we deliver the best core services possible, we have purposely sought to add as many layers of relevant value as possible and we believe we have built something quite special here.
top of that, we all know we’ll be waiting until the cows come home if we sit and wait for other entities to effectively deliver such services.”
“The bottom line for us is there is a clear need for these services to help our members, particularly when you consider the constant physical and mental strain and demands of ‘the job’.”
“We can debate all day if we, the
Federation, should be providing such services, but the bottom line for us is there is a clear need for these services to help our members, particularly when you consider the constant physical and mental strain and demands of ‘the job’, and, on
More than 2,500 officers and staff have been provided courses of either physical or mental treatment and support so far. “The process to access treatment is as stress free and as confidential as we can make it, and is on an entirely self-referral basis,” added Jim. “There’s no requirement to go via a GP, the Occupational Health Unit or line management. Members simply phone to request an appointment and they get one.” The onsite psychotherapists have been trained to provide EMDR therapy to help police officers who are dealing with trauma. EMDR involves using side-to-side eye movements combined with talk therapy in a specific and structured format. EMDR helps process the negative images, emotions, beliefs and body sensations associated with traumatic memories.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
