Page 13 - Alive January 2016 Newsletter Flip Book

Confidential support, 24/7
Online counselling available with Federation insurance scheme
Members of Bedfordshire Police Federation’s Group Insurance Scheme also have access to the Red Arc online counselling and support service helpline.
The Group Insurance Scheme, offered in partnership with Police Mutual, provides the following cover:
l life insurance - £100,000 serving
members, £40,000 partner
l personal accident/sickness benefits - up
to £100,000 for permanent total disablement and new X-Factor protection
l critical illness - up to £17,500
l legal expenses - legal document service
and telephone counselling
l family worldwide travel insurance l UK and european motor breakdown
cover - member and partner
l gadget cover - up to £750, members
only.
The cost of the Group Insurance Scheme to Bedfordshire Police Federation members is:
Serving officer: £28.24 per month
Partner: £5.21 per month
Staff member: £25.34 per month
Partner: £5.06 per month
The counselling service can help with a range of problems from practical everyday matters to sensitive or emotional issues.
If you are a member of the Group Insurance Scheme already you can find out more at www.arclegal.co.uk/carefirst but you will need a username and password from the Federation office.
If you are not a member of the scheme but would like to find out more, please visit https://beds.polfed.org/services/insurance
All Bedfordshire Police officers and staff have access to confidential support 24 hours a day, seven days a week thanks to the BCH employee Assistance Programme (eAP).
While initial contact with the service is by telephone, the programme has a team of trained wellbeing and counselling practitioners who can offer independent and unbiased information and guidance over the phone, in writing, online or at face to face appointments.
“I am aware that some people find making the initial contact quite daunting,” says Emma Carter, secretary of Bedfordshire Police Federation, “But I have spoken to a number of officers who have used the service and they have nothing but praise for the service they received.
“If you feel you need some extra support or just need to discuss any concerns or worries you may have, I can highly recommend this service. Everyone has times when they are troubled by emotional, practical, health or social issues but there is no need to suffer in silence and even if you don’t feel you can talk to a family member, a colleague or another support network, you don’t have to feel alone.
“The EAP team understand our working environment and can provide guidance on maintaining your health and wellbeing.”
Support is available to anyone with difficulties at work or at home. They can help with:
l alcohol and drug misuse
l bereavement
l bullying and harassment
l career/job stress
l childcare/care of the elderly l debt
Welfare survey
officers across england and Wales have taken part in a national welfare survey as the Police Federation seeks to measure the real cost of budget cuts.
The online survey, which ran throughout February, covered factors such as workload, stress levels, morale and fatigue. It also covers mental health and wellbeing support offered by forces. Initial findings will be reported to the national Police Federation conference in Bournemouth in May.
“I hope that as many officers as could took part in this survey,” says Jim Mallen, chairman of Bedfordshire Police Federation, “We are aware that officer stress levels have risen while morale has fallen during the Government’s cuts programme but hopefully the results of this survey will give us more details of how our members have been affected.”
At the time of the survey going live, John Murphy, health and safety lead for the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW), said: “We’ve heard anecdotally that single crewing and smaller teams are a problem; there are some who take annual leave just to have a day to catch up on work, and we know that
l legal issues*
l relationships
l retirement
l sickness absence l trauma
l work-life balance.
If you are worried about any personal or
work-related problem, please contact the BCH Employee Assistance Programme on 0800 032 8101 or visit BCH.helpeap.com for more information.
The EAP is provided by an external company and is bound by the professional code of ethics of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and the Employee Assistant Professionals Association.
*Legal services are only provided to employees to reduce the distress they are experiencing.
sickness and stress leave is happening far too often for officers just trying to do their jobs.”
The Police Federation is working with Dr Jonathan Houdmont of the university of Nottingham to carry out the research. Dr Houdmont has conducted numerous wellbeing studies on behalf of Federations and constabularies. These studies have highlighted that officers can experience high levels of psychological distress.
Mental health charity MIND has also recently run a ‘Blue light’ survey which found a high level of mental health need within emergency service personnel, including police officers.
The PFEW survey aims to build on these studies and on previous focus groups by exploring two key areas:
l the nature of relations between increased demand and
decreased officer numbers, and the health and wellbeing of
officers across England and Wales
l what support services officers are aware of and their opinions
and experiences of these.
The survey was open to police officers only and closed on 29 February.
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