Occupational Health – update report

Report: 10
Date: 5 June 2003
By: Commissioner

Summary

This report sets out details of the MPS OH Strategy; the Action Plan to take the Strategy forward and provides information on service provision and the allocation of resources and costs. Members are asked to approve the MPS OH Strategy and Action Plan.

A. Recommendation

That

1. members approve the MPS OH Strategy; and
2. approve the Action Plan for 2003/4.

B. Supporting information

OH Strategy and Action Plan

1. The first National Strategy for a Healthy Police Service was launched in October 2002 by Home Office Minister John Denham. The strategy sets out a national framework on health and safety, occupational health, welfare and attendance management for the police service and requires forces to publish action plans, setting targets for reducing sickness absence and ill-health retirements. The Metropolitan Police Strategy and associated Action Plan require approval by the police authority.

2. A draft of the MPS OH Strategy is attached at appendix 1 for approval. A draft Action Plan is attached at appendix 2 for approval. The Action Plan is renewable annually. It sets out thirteen areas for specific action during 2003/4 and represents both reactive and proactive activity. The plan does not reflect the totality of OH activity, such as the management of recuperative duties, the hearing conservation programme etc.

Spend to Save Initiative - Surgical

3. For the period 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003, 39 officers (police and civil staff) have had operations and the costs benefits evaluated. Thirteen other operations undertaken towards the end of that financial year are currently in the process of being evaluated. Medical outcome evaluations will be undertaken shortly to assess the long-term success of the surgical interventions.

4. The projected NHS waiting times for all 39 operations was 271 months. The actual waiting time using spend to save was 48.7 months, a projected saving of 222.3 months or 5.7 months per officer. The (opportunity) cost benefit of this earlier intervention is estimated at £620,941 after deduction of treatment and administration costs.

Spend to Save – Private Psychotherapy Pilot (PPP) Scheme

5. The PPP scheme was introduced on 1 January 2003, with the aim of facilitating early rehabilitation into the workplace of employees on long-term sick leave [greater than 21 days], due to stress related illness. The cost of the scheme (approx £55K) is funded by the Home Office, using funds allocated following the launch of the National Strategy for a Healthy Police Service (see Appendix 7 for full details of the initiatives funded).

6. Fifty employees will receive up to 8 sessions of cognitive psychotherapy from consultant psychologists at a location external to the MPS. Cognitive therapy promotes the individuals understanding of the present [rather than the past] and by working towards specified goals aims to provide the individual with coping mechanisms for moving forward positively. The psychologists in the PPP have been briefed to focus specifically on rehabilitation to work as opposed to subjective systematic improvement.

7. Since January 2003, 52 patients have entered the scheme for assessment, 40 have been found suitable for treatment. Not all those assessed will be suitable for treatment. It is anticipated that all sessions will have been completed by mid-late August 2003. A detailed outcome evaluation will follow. This will focus on the extent to which this intervention has assisted both resolution of the illness and rehabilitation into the workplace.

Police Reform

8. New arrangements were introduced on 1 April 2003 for managing unsatisfactory attendance on the part of police officers. The new provisions provide that in very exceptional circumstances, where attendance does not improve to acceptable levels and where there is no realistic prospect of a return to work in a reasonable timeframe, a requirement for the officer to resign may be appropriate. Current support mechanisms for officers suffering ill health remain unaltered.

9. The second change is intended to ensure that wherever possible the skills and experience of officers is not lost through ill health retirement. The new provisions to be implemented on 1 July 2003, introduce the concept of an independent and objective Selected Medical Practitioner (SMP). The SMP’s role is to determine whether a police officer is permanently disabled from performing operational duty and if they are, to provide a report on the officer’s capabilities to perform a non-operational role. The Police Authority will decide on the basis of the SMP’s report and submissions from the Commissioner and the officer, whether he or she will be retired on grounds of ill health or retained in service.

Management Information

10. Day to day practitioner services are delivered through three multi-disciplinary teams covering north, central and south London. The bulk of the remaining service delivery is provided by the medical officers through the Clinic Office. Attached at appendix 3 is a chart that provides an overview of the structure. At appendix 4 is a list of activities undertaken by the service delivery units.

11. Details of service provision - volumes, performance etc are attached at appendix 5.

Financial Analysis

12. As requested at the last meeting of the Committee, an analysis of the OH budget and spend for 2002/3 is attached at appendix 6. Details of the budget allocation for 2003/4 are not known at present. Budget variations between 2002/3 and 2003/4 will include provision for the transfer of costs in respect of health and safety staff, physical training instructors undertaking selection and recruit training at Hendon, and first aid trainers into new cost centres to reflect the realignment of some service provision within HR.

13. With the launch of a National Strategy for a Healthy Police Service, the Home Office (HO) allocated additional funding to each force in support of additional occupational health initiatives. Forces were invited to bid for additional funding using eligibility criteria set by the HO. The MPS bid for and received £519,000 additional funding, which is being managed under a separate cost centre arrangement. The money was allocated late in 2002, with a requirement that all expenditure should be completed by 31 March 2003. Following approaches to the HO, authority has now been given to defer expenditure into 2003/4.

14. A summary of the initiatives funded by the additional money is attached at appendix 7. Evaluation of the initiatives will be undertaken in September in accordance with HO requirements.

C. Equality and diversity implications

OH services are available to all staff on an equal basis.

D. Financial implications

There are no financial implications arising from this report

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Michael Shurety, Director of HR Services, MPS

For more information contact:

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

Appendix 1

Metropolitan Police Occupational Health strategy for a healthy police service

Introduction

1. This sets out the Occupational Health (OH) strategy for a healthy police service. This strategy reflects the tenets and composition of the National Police Strategy for a Healthy Police Service, as adjusted to reflect the structure and size of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). The MPS OH strategy supports the aims and objectives within the People Strategy, the National Policing Plan and the (draft) HR Business Plan for 2003/4 – 2005/6. The OH strategy covers health and safety, occupational health, welfare and attendance management; and applies to all staff; including support staff.

2. Staff are the MPS’s most valuable resource. Their health, safety and well-being are critical to the MPS’s ability to deliver the services which London needs and expects. Sickness has a major impact on efficiency in terms of absence, additional overtime costs and stress for staff [and their families] who are left to cover for absent colleagues. Reducing sickness is a priority for the MPS.

3. The main responsibility for implementing this strategy rests with Assistant Commissioner, Human Resources.

Aims of this Strategy

4. The strategy aims to deliver the following outcomes on the basis of common standards and procedures:

• Maintenance of good health in all staff
• A reduction in injuries and ill health in all staff
• To help people who have become ill, whether caused by work or not, to return to work and full performance
• To help reduce the number of medical retirements by managing cases of ill health more effectively at the outset.
• The promotion of a healthy and safety conscious workforce.

Responsibilities

5. The MPS will ensure that so far as possible, working conditions enable all police staff to maintain good health, and that the aims of this strategy are embedded in strategic decision-making. The MPS will endeavour to meet its legal obligations under health and safety legislation, and ensure that the Service is ready to comply with the employment provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, when the exception for the police officers is removed (anticipated 2004).

6. In accordance with the National Police Strategy, Assistant Commissioner, Human Resources, will account to the Metropolitan Police Authority for delivery against the strategy and put in place effective procedures for monitoring implementation of the strategy and monitoring its organisational impact.

7. Assistant Commissioner, Human Resources will define the MPS’s structures, policies and processes for managing attendance and will ensure that support and advice is available to line managers. The primary vehicle for the management of sickness will be the Attendance Management Policy, supported by ancillary policies, as approved by Assistant Commissioner, Human Resources. The work of the Health and Safety Unit, within the Department of Occupational Health, will be undertaken in accordance with relevant Health and Safety legislation.

8. The promotion of a healthy and safety conscious workforce is the responsibility of all members of the MPS. The Health and Safety Unit will assist managers to proactively manage known and potential risks to the workforce.

9. Line managers must promote the health and safety of their staff. This should be reflected in day-to-day work practices. Line managers are responsible for managing attendance, with advice from human resource managers, occupational health, and health and safety specialists.

10. Line managers, branch heads and heads of departments will regularly monitor the attendance of their staff and deal effectively with poor attendance in accordance with the Attendance Management Policy and with the support of OH.

11. OH will provide an advisory role to business groups in the management of sickness. The business groups and OH will develop a customer/provider relationship.

12. All staff have a responsibility for their health and well-being and developing awareness of the factors that contribute to ill-health and participating fully in initiatives to raise health standards.

13. Occupational health specialists and health & safety advisers will meet the needs of the organisations, and support staff, through providing specialist services of the highest quality. All OH practitioners will be appropriately qualified within their respective disciplines, including practitioners employed on agency or contract basis.

Targets

14. National targets will be published by the Home Office for reducing sickness absence. The targets will challenge the MPS to perform at the level of the best constabulary, with the aim of achieving significant reductions in sickness absence by 2005. The Metropolitan Police Authority will determine targets for the MPS. Performance against the targets will be measured each month using corporate sickness data provided by Performance Information Bureau.

15. The strategy will support the aim of encouraging effective occupational health policies and sound human resource management practices within the MPS, so that potential cases of ill-health retirement are managed more effectively from the outset. This should help to ensure that ill-health retirements in the MPS are reduced by 2005/06, so that ill-health retirement levels in the MPS are consistent with, or better than the performance achieved by the best quartile of all constabularies in 2000/01.

Monitoring

16. The MPS (through the Performance Information Bureau) will record and monitor sickness absence according to criteria and definitions developed by the Home Office-led Police Numbers Task Force. The MPS will take the results of the monitoring into account in human resource planning, and report figures quarterly to the Home Office. The Metropolitan Police Authority will use the results to inform their scrutiny of the MPS’s performance against this strategy.

Analysis of sickness

17. Regular analysis of sickness data will be undertaken to determine reasons for sickness and injuries, trends in the type of illness or injury occurring, by location, gender, rank and role so that appropriate interventions may be tailored to maximum effect.

Interventions

18. Actions to assist staff the safe return of officers to work or to assist in the structured return to work over time, will include a range of options covering internal and external service provision. The different interventions will be assessed to measure their respective success rates with regard to cost and outcomes. Interventions will be changed as necessary to achieve improvements in performance.

Action Plan

19. A costed action plan to drive this strategy forward will be produced by Director HR Services on behalf of Assistant Commissioner, Human Resources, by 30 April 2003. The action plan will encapsulate pro-active measures to assist in the prevention of illness and injury and reactive measures to deal with sickness absence and injuries that have occurred. The action plan will include a service delivery plan that will ensure that:

• Line managers, human resource managers, occupational health specialists and health and safety advisers co-ordinate their efforts to minimise sickness absence and ill health retirement.
• Health promotion and a focus on work life balance are actively pursued.
• Support for staff in posts subject to intense or long-term stress is available, as necessary, at pre-selection, during and post operational stages.
• Occupational Health considers the use of private healthcare where this is justified by a cost benefit analysis, which takes into account the efficiency gains resulting from the projected earlier return to work. The MPS will consult with the Metropolitan Police Authority on a policy governing the use of private health care intervention.
• Occupational Health considers new forms of medical and non-medical interventions together with other funding options available through public/private sector initiatives.
• Occupational Health resources are sufficient to meet demand; are focused on business needs; are customer focused; are utilised in accordance with the strategic aims of the MPS and the Business Plan for Human Resources.
• Line managers and human resource managers are provided with the skills to manage sickness absence in accordance with MPS policies and protocols.
• Staff are helped to remain at work, or to return to work from sickness absence, as quickly and as flexibly as possible.
• The MPS will, in consultation with the Health and Safety Executive and the Metropolitan Police Authority, review its compliance with health and safety legislation and develop actions plans to ensure compliance with the legal obligations under that legislation.

Implementation of the Strategy

20. The strategy will be implemented with immediate effect.

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