The organisation

Greater Manchester Police is a publicly funded service, covering 493 squares miles in the Northwest of England. The workforce is made up of 7763 warranted officers and circa 4000 police staff.  Women now make up over 35% of serving officers, which is a stark improvement from previous years.

The police force includes diverse roles including response officers, neighbourhood roles, detectives, dog handlers and firearms officers to name but a few, as well as police staff roles such as Crime Scene Investigation, Police Community Support Officer, and Analysts. Most of the front-line workforce work a shift pattern covering 24 hours a day, 365 days per year.

The rationale for action

Policing has traditionally been a vocation for life or at least the 30-year qualifying timeframe to obtain the police pension. Whilst great efforts have been made in the recruitment of more female officers, current figures suggest women are not staying in policing. Local data suggests the experience of female officers in the police service, including when returning to work after maternity leave, is a catalyst for poor retention rates.  An exodus of skilled, trained and experienced police officers – which is disproportionately represented by females – is a risk to the organisation which impacts a force’s ability to perform its key function in keeping the communities safe. 

A second recognised issue is the prevalence of stress and exposure to trauma in policing.  A study from 2021 identified that most people will experience between 3 or 4 potentially traumatic events in their lifetime whereas each police officer is likely to experience between 400-600 in the police career (Avon & Somerset Police Federation, 2021).  Facts like this mean that officer mental health is always a pressing concern.

Anna Rickards, who has spearheaded the project within GMP commented: ‘The longevity of service for many, the disproportionate retention challenges for female officers and the over prevalence of trauma make for a compelling case to engage in improving support for those in the perinatal period. Ensuring officers and staff are supported to be fit for duty both physically and mentally is not just ethical but also operationally necessary’.

What we did

With senior support, the Greater Manchester Police Association of Women in Policing partnered with a team of researchers from Manchester Metropolitan University and The Open University to explore the unique experiences and challenges experienced by police officers and staff affected by perinatal mental illness, and what might be useful in terms of policy and practice change.  The collaboration included:

1. In-depth interviews by the research team with police employees from 11 forces across the UK, in different job roles, and with varied lived experiences of perinatal mental illness

2. Hosting a Perinatal Mental Health in Policing Conference at GMP Headquarters in Jan 2023, attended by over 100 participants in-person and online, to raise awareness in different stakeholders and forces

3. A multi-stakeholder focus group, facilitated by the research team.  This session brought together representatives from different functions and levels within GMP and also perinatal mental health professionals to discuss insights from the lived experience interviews and implications for policy and practice.

4. Trialing interventions and ongoing evaluation activities

Innovations to practice

As a result of the collaboration and research insights, Greater Manchester Police have introduced the following:

• A ‘New and Expectant Parent Mental Health Supervisor Toolkit’, which provides guidance for line managers on supporting staff who may be affected by perinatal mental illness.  This includes information about different conditions and symptoms; the intersection with police life; maternity and paternity journey flow-charts; guidance on approaching the issue in wellbeing discussions; and signposting to internal and external supports.

• Revisions to the Maternity, Paternity, and Adoption policies to reference mental health challenges and signpost the new Toolkit.

• Revision to the Maternity Risk Assessment documents to reference mental health and signpost the new Toolkit.

• Communications around the resources, including a powerful lived-experience blog from a senior staff member.