The Police Dependants’ Trust has pledged more than £180,000 to a new programme which will support the mental health and wellbeing needs of police officers.
The Trust has committed £183,775 over three years to the Police Treatment Centres charity
to further strengthen clinical leadership across all of its rehabilitation activities and develop and implement a psychological wellbeing programme for officers.
Gill Scott-Moore, Chief Executive of the Police Dependants’ Trust said: “
Improving the access officers have to psychological support is one of our key priorities and we have already introduced funding for officers who need private mental health care in the unlikely event they are sectioned.
“Our aim in supporting the Treatment Centres is that the programme they are developing will provide early intervention – helping officers to recognise and learn to manage stress and anxiety – so that fewer find themselves in desperate circumstances.
“By working in partnership with the Treatment Centres we can share our experience and in particular the learning from our ongoing research into the impact of physical and psychological injuries sustained on duty.”
The Police Treatment Centres provide services to more than 4000 officers from the North of England, North Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each year. Clinical staff have noticed a marked increase in the need for mental health support.
The CEO, Patrick Cairns from the Police Treatment Centres said: “
We are very grateful for this generous grant from the PDT who have been great supporters of the PTC for a number of years. This money has allowed us to create a new appointment at the PTC who will have the overarching responsibility for all clinical matters. As well as reviewing how we carry out our core clinical business, this new appointment will have a specific mandate to create and deliver a new psychological wellbeing programme at the PTC. There are a growing number of police officers who are suffering from psychological conditions and this now accounts for 20% of the 4000 patients that we treat each year, and we anticipate that this will continue to increase in the future. I am proud that partner charities like the PDT and the PTC are working closely together in order to support our brilliant police officers when they need help, and this grant will allow us to continue our work in this important area and develop other new initiatives over time.”
This new role at the Treatment Centres, Head of Clinical Services, will allow continual improvements to the services offered for patients who have non-physical injuries and be responsible for developing and implementing the Psychological Wellbeing Programme. Patients accessing the new programme will be offered individual counselling and complementary therapy sessions alongside group work covering topics such as stress management, relaxation and sleep improvement. A group exercise class will also be offered each day which might include Tai Chi, Yoga, swimming or walking and induction sessions given to familiarise with the gym equipment available.
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