Metropolitan Police Authority occupational health strategy

Report: 8
Date: 19 October 2000
By: Commissioner

Summary

This report outlines the vision of the Metropolitan Police Service Occupational Health Directorate, to create a fit and healthy workforce in a safe environment. It is recommended that this vision be embraced and supported by the Committee.

A. Supporting information

Occupational health: Vision

1. As part of the People Strategy the vision of the Occupational Health Service is to create a fit and healthy workforce in a safe environment. To this end the Directorate manages its functions centrally but delivers its services locally to ensure a totally customer focused approach.

2. As part of this approach, the Directorate is constantly looking to improve its quality of service to all Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) staff.

3. A recent initiative was launched on 12th October 2000, entitled ‘Healthy For Life’. This is designed to raise awareness of fitness and healthy and safe living, and to encourage small changes to lifestyle that will make an improvement to their overall quality of life.

4. This approach is linked to our current work surrounding the development of a Stress Strategy for the MPS. The Occupational Health Directorate is co-ordinating the MPS’s ground breaking work into stress, supported by a number of eminent experts.

The review of the attendance management policy

5. In 1997, a thematic inspection of sickness and ill health by Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary (HMIC), the National Audit Office (NAO) and the MPS highlighted concern over increasing sickness absence levels. An Attendance Management Policy (AMP) was developed to address high levels of sickness absence and was introduced in June 1998. The AMP has been reviewed by the MPS Inspectorate and the report published in August 2000.

6. The recommendations of the review, which are currently under consideration by the Personnel Department, include:

• Changes to existing Attendance Management selection criteria
• Attendance Management criteria included in annual appraisals
• Distinguish between injuries on duty and injuries in the execution of duty.

7. Personnel Department will report back to the HR Committee on any changes proposed in due course.

Ill health pensions and injury awards

8. Ill health retirement has major personal and financial implications both for the individual and the MPS. This is a sensitive issue and one that needs to be handled with tact, sympathy, understanding and confidentiality. Managers are encouraged to ensure all other avenues to bring about an individual’s return to work have been explored before ill-health retirement is considered.

9. At the present time the proportion of police officers retiring on grounds of ill health has fallen from 46.9% in 1998/99 to 34.1% in 1999/2000. This represents a reduction of 225 actual ill-health retirements. The target set by the Home Office is 33%. The current figure for 2000/2001 is 29.4%

10. It is acknowledged that there are a number of anomalies within the Police Pensions Regulations, which have proved difficult to manage for the police service. In particular:

• Deferred pensions for sacked or ‘required to resign officers’
• Stress related claims are increasing, as the definition of ‘injury on duty’ seems to be open to wider interpretation
• An ill health pension can only be taken away if the individual can be offered future employment as a police officer. This can only be done if the individual would have less than 25 years service at the point of review. Anybody with over 25 years service would have an ill health pension for life no matter what their medical condition
• It is not possible to take away an injury award. If an individual finds employment and is able to earn more than they would have done as a police officer, they will still receive an injury pension in the bottom band. The bottom band injury award ranges from 0 - 25%.

11. Home Office recognises that the Police Pension Regulations require urgent review to attempt to stem the tide of increasing claims of ill health pensions and injury awards.

12. The issue of police pensions is directly linked to the recruitment of police constables, as currently the medical standards on entry must consider the pension implications. Under the current conditions, a police officer is recruited with the understanding that the pension liability is totally accepted by the Metropolitan Police Service. Any change or lowering of the medical standards on entry will currently directly reflect on the amount of money that is paid out in pensions and awards. A recruit is accepted for entry on the assumption of 30 years service.

Health and safety

13. The police service became subject to the legal requirement of Health & Safety at Work with the introduction of the Police (Health & Safety) Act 1997.

14. In order to raise awareness of Health and Safety legislation the team of safety advisors based in the Occupational Health Directorate aims to:

• Assist MPS staff at all levels to comply with Health & Safety legislation
• Provide professional advice and guidance on all issues concerning Health & Safety at Work
• Prevent accidents and their associated costs
• Conduct audits of compliance with legislation - notably risk assessments
• Produce appropriate policies and procedures to meet legal requirements
• Develop training packages to meet legal requirements
• Provide a link to the Health & Safety Executive.

The Spend to Save Scheme

15. In May 1999 this scheme was introduced to enable MPS staff to obtain MRI scans and orthopaedic opinions quickly, via the private sector, which made considerable notional savings in reducing time off sick.

16. In its first year the Spend to Save Scheme cost the MPS £38,900, but made notional savings of £457,973, based on the predicted savings in sick pay. This produced a total notional saving of £419,073.

17. In its second year the scheme has been extended to include staff who are working full-time recuperative duties. A further two extensions are also considered as adding to the potential savings, although these may be difficult to introduce:

• Include arthroscopies in the scheme, which would provide both diagnosis and treatment for many knee conditions. The waiting time on the NHS varies from 6 to 18 months.
• Extend the scheme where the cost of private treatment is significantly less than the notional savings of sick pay while awaiting treatment. This would be highly appropriate in cases where a member of staff is injured in the execution of their duty and is then faced with a very long NHS waiting list for treatment.

B. Recommendations

1. To support the commitment for a fit and healthy workforce.
2. To note the current review of the Police Pension Regulations.
3. To support the need to raise awareness of Health and Safety legislation within the policing environment.
4. To support in principle, the extensions of the Spend to Save scheme, to include treatment where significant notional savings for the MPS can be demonstrated.
5. To support the robust application of the attendance management policy.

C. Financial implications

There are no financial implications arising directly from this paper.

The Occupational Health Vision will be achieved within the current budgetary allocation. The financial implications arising from any changes to the Police Pension Regulations will only be known once the review is completed. The necessary increased awareness of Health & Safety within the Metropolitan Police Service will be achieved within the current budgetary allocation. The Spend to Save Scheme currently has a budget of £100,000 a year, which will need to be maintained. However, a review of this figure will be required if the recommendation to extend to treatments is supported by the Committee. This would be the subject of a separate report.

D. Review arrangements

Should support be given to extend the Spend to Save Scheme a further report will be required to identify notional savings to the MPS. This report will require 3 months research and therefore could be available to the Committee in February 2001.

E. Background papers

The following is a statutory list of background papers (under the Local Government Act 1972 S.100 D) which disclose facts or matters on which the report is based and which have been relied on to a material extent in preparing this report. They are available on request to either the contact officer listed below or to the Clerk to the Police Authority at the address indicated on the agenda.

None.

F. Contact details

The author of this report is Linda Van den Hende, Metropolitan Police Service.

For information contact:

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

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