HEALTH & SAFETY


The new forum’s primary aim is to drive a levelling-up of men’s health and to highlight a wellbeing provision to men that is on par with women’s health provisions, which have recently started to improve at pace. This is not intended to remove focus from women’s health provision. The point is simply that men should have equal consideration when it comes to health and wellbeing. Wellbeing Lead, Belinda Goodwin, will pick up the focus on the four pillars of wellbeing that can be separated out and targeted with individual campaigns. Mental wellbeing, financial wellbeing, physical wellbeing, and a fourth area for initiatives that do not fit under the first three umbrella terms. This will distinguish competing issues, so the NMHF is better placed to address concerns. For example, it is well known that male officers are more likely to be assaulted on duty, yet there is little provision dedicated specifically to the damage and longer lasting impacts of these assaults. Male officers are less likely to talk about trauma with colleagues and this allows negative emotions, such as humiliation or shame, to manifest. The impact of these incidents on mental health can be devastating. Such an examination highlights the


lack of dedicated safe, men-only spaces to debrief after incidents or distressing calls, or just have private conversations that can help process distress. Tied to this, specific figures around mental wellbeing stand out – suicide in male officers is disproportionately high compared to female officers. The NMHF will keep an eye on


all issues that affect the health and wellbeing of our members, such as the impact that low numbers of occupational health (OH) practitioners can have, as highlighted by Steve Treharne, Chair, South Wales Federation. Steve identified that historically,


at least since austerity, OH has been underfunded and he sees little movement to address this. In Wales, there is a clear lack of resource – it typically takes four weeks for Welsh officers to get an OH referral and counselling. Based on traditional estimates, there should be at least one OH practitioner per 1,000 officers, but in Wales there is a 33% shortfall of practitioners. This is important, as the uplift programme has seen 20,000 new


officers join across England and Wales. But it is unknown as to whether there has been a proportionate uplift in the number of OH practitioners across all regions. John Harrison, interim Chief Medical Officer, will look to address OH standards across the country. His work in this area will be closely followed by the PFEW and the NMHF.


This issue has already been raised on


the Police Covenant Oversight Board on behalf of the National Chair, Steve Hartshorn. It’s worth noting that Policing Minister, Chris Philp, wrote to all Chief Constables instructing them to update the self-assessment occupational health standards within 12 months.


The focus of the first NHMF meeting


was PSA testing. This involved evaluating the successes and lessons learnt from PSA testing events held across various forces and establishing best practice for


practice has been a key part of the PSA events. By doing so, the NMHF can manage expectations by highlighting what good looks like and how best to achieve that.


There are a few forces where best practice for PSA testing already exists, namely Herts, Kent, Essex and North Wales. Testing events have also been held by Merseyside, Hampshire and more. Hampshire have a great wellbeing model that other forces could learn from, including a dedicated wellbeing app for their officers. The NMHF wants to ensure that the experiences and best practice lessons gained by these four forces and others, can be shared across all Services and act as a catalyst to see PSA testing become business as usual, available to all eligible officers. Additionally, some forces are beginning


“The impact of suicide within the policing family ripples across all those who knew or came in contact with the deceased”


future events. PSA testing detects the levels of


prostate-specific antigen in the blood. These levels can be an early indicator of heightened risk of prostate cancer. There exists, rightly, provisions for breast cancer screening for women and smear tests across the NHS, but no such provision is made for prostate cancer, which is equally as prevalent in men. The NMHF wants to redress the balance and ensure that adequate provision exists for all eligible serving officers. The enzymes that PSA testing measures are not released in men until their mid-forties, so PSA testing events are only relevant for a small percentage of officers in any police force. Any drive to establish PSA testing as business as usual must remind chief constables that costs will not be as extravagant as they may initially fear.


The message that the NMHF wants heard, is that PSA testing is a cheap, effective tool in the fight against prostate cancer in men over 40. The aim is not just to provide fast and convenient PSA testing facilities, but to raise awareness, remove the stigma and fear of testing, and educate officers of its benefits, especially for those who may be at higher risk or more likely to return a positive test result. The need to identify and share best


to promote the Icletest, with Essex worth a special mention. Matt Slade, Chair of the Essex Men’s Forum, has secured a discounted price for all forces in England and Wales. The Icletest picks up minuscule


traces of blood in urine that are almost undetectable any other way, which can be a very early sign of prostate, kidney or bladder cancer.


The focus of the second NMHF meeting was suicide and post-vention. The post-vention toolkit was discussed in the December 2022 issue of POLICE magazine. It is one of the most important toolkits that has been produced to date. We would love to be able to say that all forces utilise this toolkit, but unfortunately there is still resistance to it in some regions, where the prevailing attitude is that it is unnecessary.


This is, we feel, not good enough. The


impact of suicide within the policing family can be huge, rippling across all those who knew or came in contact with the individual. Suicide at this moment of impact is so dangerous. This is because it can be almost contagious as guilt and other negative emotions, so having something that can be called upon and used to combat this spread is vital. Anything that can be done to support officers, help prevent or deter others from thinking about self-harm or worse, should be taken up by all forces.


Should you wish to alert any specific issues to the forum, email nationalmenshealth@polfed.org


19 | POLICE | JUNE 2023


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