This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Nearly one in five police officers and staff have a form of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a landmark study suggests.

Experts said the UK faced a “clinical and public sector crisis” after a survey of nearly 17,000 serving officers and operational staff indicated rates of PTSD were nearly five times higher than that in the wider population.

The research was carried out by a team at the University of Cambridge, which said early findings also suggested two-thirds of those suffering from the disorder were unaware they had the condition.

Campaigners have said the lack of a unified approach by police forces has created a “postcode lottery” in support for officers and have called for a national policing mental health strategy to be established.

Dr Jess Miller, a sociologist who led the research, said the levels of PTSD the study uncovered were alarming, and a “stiff upper lip attitude” was inappropriate for modern policing.

She said: “For the first time in the UK we can see behind the cultural trope of the burnt-out copper who has seen too much. This is a clinical and public sector crisis.

“Dealing with disturbing experiences is a defining part of policing, but employees have a right to expect resources to protect them from the impact of daily trauma exposure. Without such resources in place, the cost to policing and public safety will just mount up.”

Serving officers across all ranks and operational staff such as emergency call operators and digital image specialists took part in the survey, which was carried out across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland last year. It found 90% of police workers had been exposed to trauma.

One in five of those officers and staff reported experiencing either PTSD or complex PTSD, a more severe form of the disorder, in the four weeks prior to being surveyed. Miller said more than half of the survey’s respondents said they had insufficient time to process incidents before being sent back out on the next call.

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She added: “A stiff upper lip attitude will not work in contemporary policing. Without decent interventions and monitoring for trauma impact, and a national conversation involving the Home Office and Department of Health, the alarming levels of PTSD our study has uncovered will stay the same.”

Police Care UK, a charity supporting the police and their families, has called for a national policing mental health strategy to be introduced.

The charity’s chief executive, Gill Scott-Moore, said: “There is no comprehensive strategy to tackle the issue of mental health in policing, and that has to change. The service has real challenges around recognising and responding to the signs and symptoms of trauma exposure and is heavily reliant upon generic NHS provision that isn’t equipped for the specialist treatment needed.”