Wellbeing initiatives by Occupational Health Services and HR Pay & Benefits Unit

Report: 6
Date: 21 December 2009
By: Director of Human Resources on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

This

A. Recommendations

To note the content of the report.

B. Supporting information

Introduction

This report discusses and explores the initiatives being undertaken by Occupational Health and Pay and Benefits.

Occupational Health

Background

1. A strategic aim of Occupational Health (OH) is to improve the health of MPS staff and officers through encouraging and showing colleagues how to make changes to their lifestyles and how to improve physical and psychological wellbeing through simple exercises, dietary advice and development of coping strategies covering everyday events. Other approaches include providing reassurance to colleagues during health scares such as flu pandemics or to more localised concerns.

2. OH delivers a range of reactive services in response to the needs of officers and staff who become ill or are injured, howsoever those circumstances arise. Such services include access to medical officers, occupational health advisors, counsellors, psychiatrists, ENT specialists, physiotherapists and rehabilitation staff. Access is also provided to external consultants where further clarity is required in areas such as dyslexia, epilepsy etc. The impact of OH initiatives has been to reduce sickness absence within the MPS to an average of 7.9 days per person across all staff categories (6.8 in the case of Police Officers). This figure will continue to be driven down by a combination of existing and planned initiatives. This compares favourably with the NHS average and the public sector average (10.7 and 9.7 days respectively).

The last 12 months

A number of initiatives have been undertaken over the last 12 months in order to deliver on this strategic aim. These have included:

3. Provision of advice, guidance and reassurance around the flu pandemic, and training for all practitioners in the delivery protocols for delivering the drug Relenza to nominated staff. (Relenza is an anti-viral flu drug that can be used to prevent or treat flu but requires different dosages and duration for each specific purpose).

4. Trained administrative staff in call handling in relation to calls taken from staff who may be in crisis. This was to ensure better and smoother call transfer arrangements and to provide reassurance to the callers at the first point of contact.

5. Trained more practitioners to work under the Trauma Support Programme (TSP). The TSP programme is activated at any time an MPS employee is seriously injured or dies following a work or non-work related incident. Support to colleagues likely to be affected by the incident is made available within 24 hours of the incident and is available 24/7.

6. Implemented additional hearing protection measure (oto-acoustic testing) to identify potentially vulnerable individuals who would not normally come to attention using standard hearing screens. This is an innovative, ground breaking piece of work supported by the HSE.

7. Delivered a healthy eating promotion to over 1500 MPS staff in a joint programme with Catering Dept. Feedback from this most recent initiative has been very positive.

8. Training and guidance on the identification and management of stress continues to be rolled out across the MPS. The two packages “The Camels Back” and “Shrinking Clouds” have both been award winners and have been purchased by a number of forces. The “Camels Back” focuses primarily on the manger role while “Shrinking Clouds” is aimed at everyone.

9. Screening work for staff in vulnerable groups continued to expand with over 750 staff now in the system, either for face to face assessments or paper-based assessments. This work helps to identify those people who work in emotionally demanding areas who may be at risk of burnout or developing stress.

10. A number of classes have been run by the rehabilitation unit under the title “Watch Your Back”. The aim being to prevent and alleviate backache through raising awareness of postural and back strengthening techniques. Training of trainers within business units is also taking place to allow those trainers to provide more regular input and maintain the momentum created.

11. A review of officers on restricted is currently in place with the aim of improving operational resilience through improved deployment opportunities for individuals and managers. It is also the intention to improve the management of restricted duty officers and provide them with greater career opportunities, including promotion, by providing a focus on what they can do as opposed to what they can not do. Feedback from officers who have taken part in the review has been very positive, as has been the feedback from managers.

Future initiatives

12. A broad and extensive five part health and wealth initiative is planned to commence April 2010 looking at diet, fitness and lifestyle. A paper on this initiative was submitted and approved by the MPA Finance and Resources Committee on 30 July 2009. It is expected that 16000 MPS and MPA staff will have the opportunity to access this initiative.

13. A campaign to raise awareness of the importance of developing a healthy work life balance is planned for later this year. This will involve the marketing of the benefits both to the individual and to the MPS of maintaining a healthy work life balance through bespoke marketing material and use of local work life balance advisers. A number of units will be evaluated against their current performance, attendance levels and operational performance, to see what impact this initiative has had over time.

14. Work is underway with Beneden Healthcare Society, a mutual not-for-profit friendly society. It is hoped to provide 12 months free cover, funded by Beneden to a unit to assess the benefits of belonging to the scheme, including the impact on absence and performance levels.

15. Transforming HR will provide a number of benefits through use of new technology. A key element will be the identification, management and implementation of adjustments for those requiring them, whether under the DDA or not.

Pay and benefits - benefits of belonging

Background

16. Benefits provision in the MPS amounted until relatively recently to the provision of pension schemes and competitive annual leave allowances for both officers and staff. Since 2005, the range of benefits has expanded to include health insurance and screening for senior staff, a voluntary benefits provision of discounts and discounted shopping vouchers managed by an external supplier and the provision of cycles and childcare vouchers through salary sacrifice.

Current initiatives

17. Voluntary Benefits offered in the form of discounted goods and services are currently provided via an external provider, Oakwood, the contract for which expires in April 2010. The site has approx. 32,000 registered members but is used on a regular basis by approximately 1.5% of the workforce.

18. Offers that are exclusive to the Service are also promoted via the external website these include the provision of discounted software available through our licence agreements with Microsoft, health care schemes which are exclusive to members of the police service/civil service and gym discounts which contribute to the OH health initiative.

19. HR Pay & Benefits runs a very popular and successful Cycle to Work Scheme that is operated in conjunction with the cycle provider Evans Cycles. The scheme, which allows officers and staff to hire a cycle and equipment through salary sacrifice arrangements not only provides members with significant financial savings but also brings environmental, and health benefits. Currently there are approximately 4,200 members in the scheme and demand continues.

20. The MPS has offered a Salary Sacrifice Childcare Vouchers Scheme to its staff/officers through an external supplier since 2005. The contract covering this arrangement is due to expire in August 2010. The scheme allows members to sacrifice up to £243 of their salary per month for childcare vouchers to be used for registered childcare. If the maximum amount of vouchers are taken the potential savings for staff and officers is between £904 - £1195 per annum in tax and NI savings (depending on the level of tax paid). Where both parents work for the service potentially the savings are doubled. This benefit is well used within the service and currently there are approximately 1,380 members. Feedback received from parents is that this is a valued benefit that nets them considerable savings.

21. HR Pay & Benefits also administers the health screening/insurance offered to senior officers/staff as part of their contract of employment. A new 5-year health-screening contract became effective from the beginning of November 2009 and the health insurance contract is reviewed annually by the MPA appointed insurance brokers to ensure that quality and best value continue to be achieved.

Future initiatives

22. If the MPS is to continue offering a Childcare Vouchers Scheme a potential new contractor will have to be in place by May 2010, in order to ensure there is no break in salary sacrifice agreements with our staff and officers and to provide a seamless transition from the existing provider. To achieve this and in the interests of collaboration between the emergency services and the GLA family HR Pay & Benefits are taking the lead on behalf of the MPA/MPS to contract under a four-year framework agreement with up to four suppliers. Potential users of the framework will then have the opportunity to conduct their own Mini Competition in order to select their own supplier.

23. HR Pay & Benefits will shortly be commencing a procurement exercise to appoint a contractor to take forward our voluntary benefits provision in the form of discounted goods and services when the current contract expires in April 2010. The service is to be provided at nil cost to the MPA, although any marketing strategy that is considered necessary to promote the benefit will be supported. The provider must also have the facility to include offers that are exclusive to the MPS.

Conclusion

24. The provision of services and benefits offered to officers and staff has expanded substantially over recent years. Those achievable within current budget constraints have been fully explored and exhausted. If further developments are to be achieved funding via productivity gains will have to be identified.

C. Race and equality impact

There are no equality or diversity issues. All services and benefits provided are available to every member of the MPS, apart from the provision of health care services for senior officers.

D. Financial implications

There are no OH financial implications bar that mentioned at paragraph 11 above which has funding in place. The management of the Cycle to Work and Childcare Voucher Schemes is funded through savings achieved on the employers’ national insurance contributions. The provision of voluntary benefits in the form of discounted goods/services is to be achieved at zero cost. Funding is also in place for the health care provision for senior officers/staff.

E. Legal implications

1. Under Health & Safety Legislation employers have a duty to do whatever is reasonably practicable to protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees. The duty includes the duty to carry out risk assessments, to provide information to employees about the risks in the workplace and to instruct and train as to how to deal with those risks. Many of the schemes and initiatives outlined in this report assist the MPA/MPS in fulfilling their statutory duties under Health & Safety Legislation.

2. The focus on potential areas of disability, e.g., in relation to hearing protection measures and the provision of access to specialist external consultants to advise upon potential areas of disability (dyslexia and epilepsy), assist the MPA/MPS in fulfilling their duties under the Disability Discrimination Legislation.

F. Background papers

None

G. Contact details

Report author: Robert Crawley and Ruth Hutchins, MPS

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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