Police: Mental Health Services
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with police forces on ensuring that police (a) officers and (b) staff receive (i) mental health and (ii) self-harm prevention support.
Answered by Sarah Jones
This Government is committed to supporting the mental and physical wellbeing of all our police and are working closely with police leaders to ensure this.
This includes providing ongoing funding to the National Police Wellbeing Service, which provides evidence-based guidance, advice, tools and resources which can be accessed by forces. This helps Chief Constables in their duty to ensure the wellbeing of their workforce. In particular, the Service is helping forces to identify where there is most risk of impacts on mental health, and developing work around building resilience, as well as putting in place support for those who need it in response to traumatic events.
A National Action Plan for Suicide Prevention and Postvention in policing has been launched, which aims to reduce rates among the police workforce as well as enhancing data recording. The plan, which includes ensuring adequate training for the police workforce, emphasises a supportive environment that promotes mental health and combats stigma to ensure that those affected by suicide or suicidal thoughts can access appropriate and timely support.
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