Oscar Kilo, the National Police Wellbeing Service, is honored to have been represented at the event by our Service Director, Andy Rhodes, and to have been invited into what is a critical conversation about supporting the mental health of those working in our emergency services.
Emergency services across each of the home nations have today committed to a uniform approach to supporting the mental health of their emergency responder workforce.
In a UK first, the chief officers of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) and Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) have made a public pledge on behalf of their organisations at the symposium.
The Mental Health at Work Commitment for the emergency services means that every emergency service organisation in the UK will:
- prioritise mental health in the workplace by developing and delivering a systematic programme of activity
- proactively ensure work design and organisational culture drive positive mental health outcomes
- promote an open culture around mental health
- increase organisational confidence and capability
- provide mental health tools and support
- increase transparency and accountability through internal and external reporting
The Mental Health at Work Commitment is complimentary to the existing Blue Light Wellbeing Framework (BLWF) to which police forces across the country are already signed up.
To support this, Oscar Kilo will be incorporating the Mental Health at Work Commitment into the BLWF so that is very clear what tangible activity is required to follow through on the commitment.
We will also be providing forces with support to self-assess through our existing channels to streamline the process as much as possible.
Find out more about the Mental Health at Work Commitment, and the Blue Light Together programme.