| Tayside Joint Police Board’s personnel sub-committee, meeting in Dundee today, heard details of the first year of an occupational health care contract with Greenock-based company CIGNA.
Chief Constable John Vine, in a report, said 16 officers and six support staff had left the force on health grounds in 2002/03. By last year that had declined to seven officers and three support staff.
More than half-way through the current year, just one officer and two support staff have been retired on the grounds of ill health.
The contract has also been successful in reducing the level of sickness absence among officers and support staff.
In 2003/04, 12,543 police officer working days were lost, but in the first six months of 2004/05 well under half that amount has been lost.
Mr Vine said the figures for support staff showed an even more marked reduction, from 8133 working days lost in 2003/04, to 3210 in the first six months of this year.
He said informal feedback indicated that line managers and staff are appreciative of the service and consider there is much benefit in being able to access early advice and care when they are suffering from ill health.
The force’s head of human resources, Moira Docherty, said the sickness absence rate in Tayside Police compared favourably with other forces and with local authorities. |
