The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) and Oscar Kilo the National Police Wellbeing Service have published new occupational health guidance for the assessment of new police officer applicants.
This guidance has been developed to assist police occupational health services perform clinical assessments of new police officer applicants prior to the confirmation of appointment. It is intended for this use only.
The guidance provides forces with an updated, efficient, and effective national approach to medical assessments of applicants. Whilst recruitment decisions remain with individual forces, it is essential that the approach to assessment is consistent across all forces. This will ensure the health, safety and future wellbeing of police officers and will avoid unlawful discrimination. The assessment will ensure that health-related employment risks are assessed, and that reasonable and suitable support is provided to new starters, where necessary, thus contributing to the recruitment and retention of the next generation of a more diverse police workforce, in line with the policing vision 2030.
We will be sharing the full guidance document and supporting documents with Occupational Health practitioners across the country and have made them available to download from our ‘Good Practice Hub’ in the occupational health practitioner member area of this website.
Use the link below for more on the work we are doing to support occupational health teams.