#LosingControl: 30 police call-handlers off work with stress, depression, anxiety
Mental health absence accounts for 1.7% of 1,800 control room staff.
Last updated 3rd Jul 2017
"We have just over 1,800 people in our Contact Command and Control Division and 1.7-per-cent of those are currently absent citing stress, anxiety or depression." - ACC John Hawkins
MFR News has learned that 30-police call handlers are currently off work because they're suffering with stress, depression, and anxiety.
It's after our #LosingControl investigation into the closure of Aberdeen's police call centre, as the Highland capital waits to hear whether plans to shut the Inverness police control room will go ahead.
It's understood that a meeting of the Scottish Police Authority towards the end of August will make a decision.
CLICK HERE to watch & listen to last week's series of special reports...
Our news team asked Police Scotland how many staff members had approached bosses over concerns about their mental health.
At the time the force did not provide our newsroom with the data, claiming that to answer the Freedom of Information request would require sifting through every employee's personnel file to collate the information.
What officials did tell us is that AXA PPP has provided the constabulary’s Employee Assistance Programme for the last two-years, and the third party handled 955 cases in 2016/17 - nearly 1,500 issues including counselling for stress.
Assistant Chief Constable John Hawkins spoke exclusively to the nationwide programme Scotland's Talk In yesterday, when he revealed the figure, insisting the sick absence was down to a range of issues and isn't a reflection of morale in the workplace.
He said: "We have just over 1,800 people in our Contact Command and Control (C3) Division and 1.7-per-cent of those are currently absent citing stress, anxiety or depression.
"That can be for a whole range of issues, it may be work related, or it may not be. It's very much an individual set of circumstances in each and every case."
ACC Hawkins went onto the show to defend Police Scotland's ongoing work to close local control rooms, and replace them with three-call-handling centres in Govan, Dundee, and Edinburgh. Eventually every single 999-call made to the police will be answered in one of those facilities, no matter where in the country the calls for help are coming from.
LISTEN: Top Scots cop goes onto LIVE radio programme after pressure from our investigation...
The senior officer insisted that the centralisation was nothing to do with budget cuts, but instead about improving the service.
The top Scots cop explained: "This wasn't a cost cutting exercise. We changed our call handling arrangements quite simply because they weren't fit or purpose.
"When Police Scotland came into being, we had 10-different service centres in 10-different area control rooms around the country.
"They'd been set up to deal with the eight-force model that was in place beforehand. They had different ICT computer technology systems, and in many, many cases there had been a real under investment in those critical systems.
"Each of those facilities could only see and deploy officers in their immediate area, so if there was an officer nearby, but over the old force boundary, the control room couldn't see that officer, and as a result wasn't dispatched to help a member of the public in their moment of need."
LISTEN: ACC Hawkins took questions live on-air, and was challenged by caller David Edes who lives in Inverness and is concerned about the loss of local knowledge...
In a statement, a Scottish Government spokesperson said:
"This is a matter for the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland. Ministers have been clear about the need for such decisions to be underpinned by assurance activity and also noted that the independent HM Inspectorate was satisfied with the governance, planning, engagement and technical preparation for the transfer.
"An HMICS review of call handling – instructed by the Justice Secretary – recommended the introduction of mechanism to record ‘notable incidents’, designed to improve the quality of service to the public. Police Scotland has implemented that system, and is committed to promoting best practice and continuous improvement.
"We expect the SPA to have robust processes in place to monitor performance in relation to all aspects of call handling.
"Furthermore, the allocation of police resources in any given area is a matter for the relevant Chief Constable.
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