Police Pay
Confidentiality and Career

Telling OH About
Your Mental Health

What occupational health is for, what it can and cannot pass to your force, how a confidential crisis line differs, and what the rules actually say about duties, firearms, driving, vetting, sickness and ill-health retirement. Neutral, sourced and written so you can decide with the facts in front of you.

Independent information, not advice · Sources checked 30 September 2026 · England and Wales unless stated

Short answer: will occupational health tell my force, and will it affect my career?

OH keeps your clinical details confidential. Your force normally receives a report on fitness for work, likely return and advised adjustments, and a diagnosis only with your consent, apart from limited cases such as a legal duty or serious risk to others. A diagnosis alone does not end a police career: duties, firearms, driving and vetting are decided case by case. Ask to see the report first.

Contents
What OH Is ForWhat OH SharesCrisis Line vs OHDuties & AdjustmentsFirearms, DrivingVettingSickness & IHRReports & DisagreeingSituations TableQuestions to AskMythsNot Verified FAQs Sources

This page sets out the rules as they are written. It does not tell you whether to disclose anything to anyone. Getting help for your mental health is always an option, and there are routes that are completely separate from your force, including the crisis line, Samaritans and your GP. If you are struggling now, use one of the services above first and come back to the detail later.

What occupational health is for, and who it reports to

Occupational health (OH) advises your force about your health in relation to your work: whether you are fit for your role, what adjustments or restrictions would help, and whether a condition is likely to be temporary. It is staffed by occupational health doctors and nurses, sometimes in-house and sometimes an external provider. OH gives advice; decisions about your duties, pay, adjustments and deployment are made by the force.

OH is not the same as your treating doctors. Your GP and any specialist treat you; OH assesses how your health affects your work and reports to the organisation. It is also not the selected medical practitioner (SMP) who answers the medical questions for ill-health retirement under the police pension regulations. See the occupational health process for how a referral runs.

OH advisesFitness for work, adjustments, likely return, whether the Equality Act disability definition may apply.
The force decidesDuties, adjustments, authorisations, sick pay extensions, attendance procedures, referral to an SMP.
Your doctors treatDiagnosis and treatment, and reports to OH only with your consent.

What OH shares with your force, and what needs your consent

Health information is special category data under UK GDPR, which carries extra protection: an organisation needs a lawful basis and a separate Article 9 condition to process it. On top of data protection law, OH clinicians owe you a professional duty of confidence. The ICO's employment guidance says:

  • Unless told otherwise, workers are entitled to assume that what they tell a doctor, nurse or other health professional will be treated in confidence and not passed on.
  • As far as possible, OH should hold the medical information and tell your manager only the results of the assessment, such as whether there is a legitimate reason for absence.
  • Releasing medical information given to OH to non-medical staff generally needs your explicit consent.
  • Your employer must tell you, preferably in writing, how information from OH will be used, who may see it, and in particular when a line manager can see what you told a health professional.
  • Managers and HR should see only what they genuinely need to do their jobs.

Professional guidance from the Society of Occupational Medicine, marked as a draft (January 2020), describes what a good OH report to management looks like. It says OH should explain at the start that medical confidentiality applies, tell you at the end what it intends to write and to whom, and offer to send you a copy before it goes to your manager. The report should say it was written with your consent and answer the manager's questions about fitness, adjustments, return to work and whether the disability definition is likely to apply. It says OH does not have to give a diagnosis or clinical information, but may do so with your consent if it helps. It also says, exceptionally, a report may be made without consent, for example in the public interest or where there is a legal obligation.

Usually in the report to management Usually not, unless you agree Can be shared without consent (exceptional)
Fit, unfit or fit with adjustments; advised restrictions; likely return date; review date; whether the disability definition may apply; that you consented The diagnosis; your history; what you said in the consultation; your GP or specialist records Where the law requires it or there is a serious public interest, such as a significant risk of harm to others. Ask OH how it applies this
What we could not read

The General Medical Council's confidentiality guidance on reports for employers returned "access denied" to our checks, and the Faculty of Occupational Medicine's ethics guidance is sold rather than published free. The points above come from the ICO and the Society of Occupational Medicine. If you need the exact professional rule for your case, ask OH which guidance it follows.

A confidential crisis line is not the same as force OH

Different services have different jobs. Some exist to listen and keep you safe, and pass nothing on. Force occupational health exists to advise your force, so its output is a report. Knowing which is which lets you choose where to start.

Service Who runs it Does it report to your force?
Oscar Kilo Mental Health Crisis LineThe Ambulance Staff Charity (TASC), for Oscar KiloNo. Oscar Kilo says no identifying data is, or will ever be, shared with your force or managers; the Federation (West Mercia) adds occupational health to that list
SamaritansIndependent charityNo link to policing
Your GP and NHS talking therapiesNHSNot routinely. Your force can only ask your GP for a report with your consent (Access to Medical Reports Act 1988, s3)
Force employee assistance programmeA provider arranged by the forceDepends on the contract. Ask the provider what, if anything, it tells the force
TRiM or peer supportTrained colleaguesConfidential with stated exceptions in the force policy we read. See post-incident support
Force occupational healthIn-house or contracted OH cliniciansYes, by design: a report on your fitness and adjustments, with clinical detail kept back unless you consent

For the full list of services, what each one does and who can use it, see the police mental health support services directory. What your force should offer is covered in police wellbeing policies.

What a diagnosis can mean for your duties, and your protections

A mental health condition is handled through the same frameworks as any other health condition. The main ones are below.

  • Sick leave. Police Regulations 2003 regulation 33(5) says an officer is entitled to be absent through illness in the circumstances the Secretary of State determines, and regulation 28 leaves sick pay to a determination (Annex K): full pay for 6 months then half pay for 6 months, counted back over 12 months, with chief officer discretion to extend. Annex K makes no separate rule for mental health.
  • Limited duties. The Home Office Annex EE determination (effective 1 May 2015) defines three categories. Recuperative duties are a structured, time-limited, supportive and rehabilitative return after illness or injury. Adjusted duties are duties with workplace adjustments, including reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act, for officers attending regularly and working their full paid hours. Management restricted duties are a different, non-medical category, used where the chief constable has lost confidence in an officer continuing in a post but criminal or misconduct proceedings are not warranted.
  • Pay on adjusted duties. Annex EE, as issued in 2015, provides for a review after 12 months on adjusted duties, written notice after 9 months, and a possible deduction of the 8% deployment component of X-factor at the chief officer's discretion, with exceptions. Deduction decisions are paused while an SMP referral is pending. See restricted and adjusted duties.
  • Equality Act 2010. A mental impairment is a disability if it has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities (section 6). Long-term means it has lasted or is likely to last 12 months, or for life, and an effect that is likely to recur is treated as continuing (Schedule 1, paragraph 2). Section 42 treats constables as employed by the chief officer for the work provisions, so the duty to make reasonable adjustments (sections 20 and 39(5)) and the ban on unfavourable treatment because of something arising from a disability, unless justified (section 15), apply to your force.
A neutral point about knowledge

Schedule 8, paragraph 20 of the Equality Act says an employer is not under a duty to make reasonable adjustments if it does not know, and could not reasonably be expected to know, that the person has a disability and is likely to be disadvantaged. Section 15 has a similar knowledge limit. That is a fact about how the law works, not a reason you must disclose; many people share only what OH needs to advise on adjustments.

Firearms, driving and other role-specific requirements

Some roles carry their own fitness requirements. This is where a health condition is most likely to have a practical effect, usually temporary.

Firearms authorisation

The College of Policing APP on issue and carriage of firearms says forces should have a process to monitor an officer's continued suitability for an armed role where personal or professional circumstances change.

An officer on a course of drug treatment must seek advice from their own doctor or OH if concerned about side effects, and relevant concerns or medical advice must be brought to a supervisor or OH.

Firearms officers, commanders and tactical advisers can ask to be temporarily stood down where medical, emotional or other life stresses may affect critical decision-making.

An AFO who declares something that may affect their fitness is not issued a firearm until it is looked into; the decision on future issue goes to the person best placed under force policy, with the reasons recorded.

Driving

GOV.UK says you only need to tell the DVLA about depression if it affects your ability to drive safely, and that you must tell the DVLA about anxiety or PTSD if it affects your ability to drive safely. If it does not, you do not need to tell them.

It says you can be fined up to £1,000 for not reporting a condition that affects your driving, and advises asking your doctor if unsure. Bus, coach and lorry licences use a different form.

Your police driving authorisation is a separate force decision; we could not find a published national medical standard for it.

After a police shooting or other critical incident, the APP says authorisation should not be removed automatically; see post-incident support. For the AFO role generally, see firearms officers explained.

Vetting and mental health

Police vetting is governed by the Police (Vetting) Regulations 2025 and the College of Policing's statutory Vetting Code of Practice (2023), supported by the Vetting APP. The College says amended regulations came into force on 13 July 2026 and that the Code and APP will be updated to reflect them, with the regulations taking precedence. We describe what the current published texts say; they may change.

  • The Code's vetting test asks whether there are reasonable grounds to suspect involvement in criminal activity, financial vulnerability or other adverse information, and whether it is appropriate to refuse clearance. Health is not listed in that test, and the regulations as made contain no health criteria.
  • The Vetting APP (May 2025, paragraph 6.5.17) says forces should take great care with vetting information about mental or physical health, especially where it suggests a vulnerability.
  • It says neither police officers nor force vetting managers are qualified to assess medical conditions, including mental health, and that medical information that could affect suitability must be passed to the force medical officer or OH for a professional assessment.
  • It says no personal medical information should be passed to vetting units without the applicant's consent.
  • It also says that if expected medical information has not been declared, the matter should be referred back to the vetting unit as a potential integrity concern.
  • The vetting form guidance lists "relevant medical issues" among other circumstances to mention, says detailed medical information is not needed for vetting, and encourages applicants to give it directly to the force medical officer or OH.
  • The supervisor appraisal form in the APP asks whether the person has shown health concerns, including mental health, "which might cause impaired judgement".

In short, the published guidance routes health questions to OH rather than to vetting officers, and treats honesty in what you declare as the vetting issue. For what happens when clearance is reviewed, see failing vetting as a serving officer.

Long absence, attendance procedures and ill-health retirement

If a condition keeps you off work for a long time, two formal routes can follow. Neither is triggered by a diagnosis on its own.

  • Unsatisfactory attendance. The Police (Performance) Regulations 2020 include an attendance procedure. The Police Federation reports that from 28 May 2025 the performance and attendance procedures moved from three stages to two, with any improvement period within three months (twelve in exceptional circumstances), and that matters which came to the force's attention before that date stay under the old process. Equality Act duties continue to apply. See performance and attendance procedures.
  • Ill-health retirement. The Police Pensions Regulations 2015 define infirmity as including a mental disorder (regulation 74). Before considering compulsory retirement, the police pension authority must refer the medical questions to a selected medical practitioner (regulation 81). If the SMP finds you permanently unfit for the ordinary duties of a police officer, the authority, after considering all the circumstances including your input, may require you to retire or may require you to continue to serve (regulation 82). You can appeal an SMP decision within 28 days of receiving the report (Schedule 1). See ill-health retirement.

If the condition followed an incident at work, it may also matter for an injury award later. See injured on duty: what to do step by step and long-term sickness.

Seeing your report, getting a copy, and disagreeing

Reports from your own doctors: the Access to Medical Reports Act 1988.

  • The Act covers medical reports for employment purposes written by a doctor "who is or has been responsible for the clinical care" of the individual (section 2). That is typically your GP or a treating specialist.
  • Your force cannot apply for such a report without telling you and getting your consent, and must tell you your rights (section 3).
  • You can ask to see the report before it is sent. The doctor must then not supply it until you have seen it, or 21 days have passed without you arranging access (section 4). Once you have seen it, it cannot be sent without your consent (section 5(1)).
  • You can ask in writing for anything you consider incorrect or misleading to be amended, and if the doctor declines, ask for your statement to be attached (section 5(2) and (3)).
  • The doctor must keep a copy for at least six months and give you access on request (section 6). Parts can be withheld if disclosure would be likely to cause serious harm to you or others, or would identify a third party (section 7).

Reports from OH itself. Because the Act turns on responsibility for your clinical care, it will often not apply to an OH doctor who has only assessed you for work. We could not confirm a definitive rule on this; ask OH which regime it applies. In any case, UK GDPR gives you a right of access to your personal data. The ICO says an OH provider acting in its professional capacity is likely to be a controller that must respond to subject access requests, that your force is a controller for what it receives from OH, and that organisations usually have one month to respond.

If you disagree with an OH assessment
  1. Ask for the report, or the draft, in writing, and identify factual errors. The Society of Occupational Medicine draft guidance says errors of fact should be corrected, though a clinical opinion will not change unless it rested on an error of fact.
  2. Give OH evidence from your GP, psychologist or psychiatrist, and ask for it to be considered.
  3. Ask for a review appointment or a second opinion. If the dispute is about whether you are "fully deployable" for adjusted duties, Annex EE says the chief officer must arrange examination by a different doctor within 28 days of the disagreement coming to light, and that doctor's opinion is final.
  4. If a selected medical practitioner's decision is involved, the appeal route and time limit are in the pension regulations; see the ill-health retirement guide.
  5. Involve your Federation or staff association representative, and use the force grievance procedure if the issue is how your force acted on the advice.

Situations: what OH can do, what the force can do, and your protections

Situation What OH can do What your force can do with it Protections
You tell OH about anxiety or depression, still working Advise on adjustments (hours, shifts, workload) and a review date Make adjustments; consider recuperative or adjusted duties Confidentiality of clinical detail; reasonable adjustments if the disability definition is met
Off sick with a mental health condition Advise on likely return, a phased return and adjustments Pay under Annex K; decide on extending pay; manage attendance Annex K entitlement; chief officer discretion; Equality Act duties; Federation representation
You hold a firearms authorisation Advise on fitness for armed duties, including medication effects Pause issue of firearms while circumstances are looked into; decide on return under force policy A recorded rationale; right to ask for a temporary stand-down without prejudice to the role
Vetting renewal or new clearance Assess any medical information referred to it Consider suitability with OH's view; not receive personal medical detail without consent Vetting APP 6.5.17; honesty in declarations is the integrity issue
OH asks for a report from your GP or psychiatrist Request a report, not your whole record Usually receive OH's advice on fitness and adjustments; ask OH whether the GP report itself will be passed on Consent and prior access under the Access to Medical Reports Act; ICO says whole records should not normally be requested
The condition may be permanent Advise the force that an SMP referral may be appropriate Refer medical questions to an SMP; decide whether to retire or retain you SMP report to you; appeal within 28 days; your input must be considered

Questions to ask before you disclose

These are questions many people find useful to ask. The answers are yours to weigh.

Ask occupational health
  • Who will receive your report, and will a copy go to HR or future managers?
  • Will it include a diagnosis? Can it leave the diagnosis out?
  • Can I see the report before it is sent, and how long do I have to respond?
  • In what circumstances would you share something without my consent?
  • Are you in-house or an external provider, and who do I send a subject access request to?
  • Will you ask my GP for a report, and what will you ask?
Ask your force or rep
  • Where is the force's OH and data protection notice for staff?
  • What adjustments are realistic in my role, and for how long?
  • Would anything affect an authorisation I hold, and who decides?
  • Does the employee assistance programme report anything to the force?
  • If I am off sick, when could the attendance procedure start?
  • Should this be recorded as related to an incident on duty?

What people get wrong

  • "OH sends your notes to your boss." The ICO says OH should tell managers only the results of the assessment, and release of medical details to non-medical staff generally needs explicit consent.
  • "A diagnosis means you fail vetting." The Vetting APP routes medical information to the force medical officer or OH and says vetting staff are not qualified to assess it. The vetting test is about criminality, finances and adverse information; undeclared information is treated as an integrity question.
  • "Any mental health condition means telling the DVLA." GOV.UK says only if it affects your ability to drive safely.
  • "Once the SMP says permanently unfit, you are out." Under the 2015 regulations the pension authority may require you to retire or to continue to serve, after considering your input.
  • "Calling the crisis line starts a record at work." Oscar Kilo says no identifying data is shared with your force or managers.
  • "Getting help ends your career." Nothing in the regulations or guidance we read says so. They describe support, adjustments and case-by-case decisions.

What we could not verify

  • GMC and Faculty of Occupational Medicine guidance. The GMC's guidance pages blocked our checks and the FOM ethics guidance is not freely published. We relied on the ICO and the Society of Occupational Medicine, whose guidance is marked as a draft.
  • Whether the Access to Medical Reports Act covers a particular OH doctor. It depends on whether they have been responsible for your clinical care; ask OH.
  • National medical standards for firearms and police driving authorisations. We could not find published ones; forces set their own processes.
  • The 13 July 2026 vetting amendments. The College says the Code and APP will be updated; we have not seen the amending text, so check for changes.
  • Annex EE's current text. We read the 2015 determination; we could not confirm it has not been amended since.
  • Force employee assistance programmes. Confidentiality terms depend on each contract.
  • How often OH reports include a diagnosis. We found no data.
Quick answers

Frequently Asked Questions

Will occupational health tell my force about my mental health?

OH tells your force what it needs to manage your work: whether you are fit, what adjustments or restrictions are advised and roughly when you may return. The ICO says OH should hold the medical information and tell managers only the results of the assessment, and that releasing confidential medical information to non-medical staff generally needs your explicit consent. Exceptions, such as a legal duty or a serious risk to others, are limited.

Is police occupational health confidential?

Your conversation and clinical records are confidential to the health professionals, and the ICO says workers are entitled to assume that what they tell a doctor or nurse is not passed on unless told otherwise. OH is not secret in the way a crisis line is, though: its purpose is to write a report to your force, so ask at the start what will go in it and whether you can see it first.

Does a mental health diagnosis end a police career?

No rule we read says so. A diagnosis can lead to time on sick leave, recuperative or adjusted duties, a pause in a specialist authorisation or, if a selected medical practitioner finds permanent unfitness, ill-health retirement. Even then, under the 2015 pension regulations the police pension authority may require you to retire or may require you to continue to serve. Each step is decided case by case.

Does mental health affect police firearms authorisation?

It can, case by case. The College of Policing APP says relevant medical concerns or advice must be brought to a supervisor or occupational health, that firearms officers can ask to be temporarily stood down for medical or emotional stresses, and that decisions on future issue of firearms go to the person best placed under force policy. We found no national rule that a diagnosis alone removes authorisation.

Does mental health affect police vetting?

The Vetting APP says vetting staff are not qualified to assess medical conditions, including mental health. Medical information that could affect suitability must be passed to the force medical officer or occupational health for assessment, and no personal medical information should go to the vetting unit without your consent. It also says expected medical information that was not declared can be referred back as a potential integrity concern.

Do I have to tell the DVLA about depression, anxiety or PTSD?

GOV.UK says you must tell the DVLA if the condition affects your ability to drive safely, and that you can be fined up to £1,000 for not reporting a condition that affects your driving. If it does not affect your driving, you do not need to tell them. Ask your doctor if you are unsure. Police driving authorisation is a separate force decision.

Is the Oscar Kilo crisis line confidential from my force?

Oscar Kilo says the line is independent, delivered by The Ambulance Staff Charity, and that no identifying data is, or will ever be, shared with a caller's police force or managers. The Police Federation (West Mercia) describes it as not passing information to the force, line managers or occupational health. Force occupational health is a different service that reports to your force.

Can I see my occupational health report before my manager does?

Usually you can ask. Society of Occupational Medicine guidance (a draft dated January 2020) says OH should tell you what it intends to write and offer you a copy before it goes to your manager, correcting errors of fact. Where the report comes from a doctor who has treated you, such as your GP or consultant, the Access to Medical Reports Act 1988 gives you a legal right to see it first.

How do I get a copy of my occupational health report?

Ask OH directly, and you can also make a subject access request under UK GDPR. The ICO says an OH provider acting in its professional capacity is likely to be a controller and must respond to subject access requests, and your force is a controller for what it receives. The ICO says organisations usually have one month to respond.

What can I do if I disagree with occupational health?

Point out factual errors in writing, send evidence from your GP or specialist, ask for a review or second opinion and involve your Federation or staff association rep. If the dispute is about whether you are fully deployable for adjusted duties, the Home Office Annex EE determination says a different doctor must examine you within 28 days of the disagreement, and that doctor's opinion is final.

Does anxiety or depression count as a disability?

It can. Under section 6 of the Equality Act 2010 a mental impairment is a disability if it has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities; long-term means it has lasted or is likely to last at least 12 months, and an effect that is likely to recur counts. Section 42 treats constables as employed by the chief officer for these purposes.

Can a police officer be dismissed because of mental ill health?

Not for having a diagnosis. Long absence can lead to the unsatisfactory attendance procedure under the Police (Performance) Regulations 2020, which moved from three stages to two from 28 May 2025, and your force must still meet its Equality Act duties, including reasonable adjustments. Where a condition is permanent, ill-health retirement is a separate route. Speak to your Federation rep early.

Evidence

Sources and how we checked them

Every factual claim on this page was written from the sources below, read on 30 September 2026. Rules and figures change, so check the source for the date you are reading this. Where we could not confirm something from an official or independent source, the page says so rather than guessing. Spotted something out of date? See our corrections policy.

  1. ICO: What if we use occupational health schemes? (employment guidance, updated 5 March 2024) — OH holds medical information and tells managers the results; explicit consent generally needed for release to non-medical staff; OH provider likely a controller; Access to Medical Reports Act (accessed 30 September 2026)
  2. ICO: Data protection and workers' health information — health data is special category data; Article 9 conditions; limits of consent in employment (accessed 30 September 2026)
  3. ICO: Getting copies of your information (subject access request) — organisations usually have one month to respond (accessed 30 September 2026)
  4. Access to Medical Reports Act 1988, sections 1 to 7 (legislation.gov.uk) — applies to reports by a doctor responsible for your clinical care; consent, access before supply (21 days), amendment, six-month retention, exemptions (accessed 30 September 2026)
  5. Equality Act 2010, sections 6, 15, 20, 39 and 42, Schedule 1 paragraph 2 and Schedule 8 paragraph 20 (legislation.gov.uk) — disability definition; constables treated as employed by the chief officer; reasonable adjustments; knowledge limit (accessed 30 September 2026)
  6. Police Regulations 2003 (SI 2003/527), regulations 28 and 33 (legislation.gov.uk) — absence for illness only as determined by the Secretary of State; sick pay set by determination (accessed 30 September 2026)
  7. Police Federation (Warwickshire): sick leave (Annex K) — six months' full pay then six months' half pay; 12-month look-back; chief officer discretion (accessed 30 September 2026)
  8. Home Office: Annex EE, limited duties and the deployment component of X-factor (effective 1 May 2015) — recuperative, adjusted and management restricted duties; second doctor within 28 days; 12-month review (accessed 30 September 2026)
  9. Police Pensions Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/445), regulations 74, 81 and 82 (legislation.gov.uk) — infirmity includes mental disorder; SMP decides medical questions; pension authority may retire or retain (accessed 30 September 2026)
  10. College of Policing: Vetting Code of Practice (2023) — vetting test and criteria; notes that amended Police (Vetting) Regulations 2025 came into force on 13 July 2026 (accessed 30 September 2026)
  11. College of Policing: Vetting authorised professional practice (May 2025), paragraph 6.5.17 and vetting form guidance — medical information passed to force medical officer or OH; no personal medical information to vetting without consent; undeclared information (accessed 30 September 2026)
  12. Police (Vetting) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/502) — statutory vetting framework for officers; the text as made contains no health criteria (accessed 30 September 2026)
  13. College of Policing APP: armed policing, issue and carriage of firearms (updated 3 June 2025) — continued suitability, fitness for duty, temporary stand-down, duty to inform (accessed 30 September 2026)
  14. College of Policing APP: armed policing, post-deployment (updated 25 August 2026) — authorisation not automatically removed after an incident (accessed 30 September 2026)
  15. GOV.UK: Depression and driving; Anxiety and driving; PTSD and driving — tell DVLA only if the condition affects safe driving; fine up to £1,000 (accessed 30 September 2026)
  16. Oscar Kilo: Mental Health Crisis Line and crisis line FAQs — independent; no identifying data shared with force or managers (accessed 30 September 2026)
  17. Police Federation (West Mercia): new 24/7 crisis line launched (22 July 2025) — information not passed to the force, line managers or occupational health (accessed 30 September 2026)
  18. Society of Occupational Medicine: guidance as to an occupational health report to management (draft V3, January 2020) — consent, offer of a copy before sending, no need to give a diagnosis, errors of fact corrected (accessed 30 September 2026)
  19. Police Federation (Warwickshire): changes to the UPP process 2025 — two stages from 28 May 2025, including unsatisfactory attendance (accessed 30 September 2026)
Related Guides

On this topic elsewhere

Occupational health process → Referral, assessment and the report, step by step. Ill-health retirement → The SMP route if you cannot return to policing. Restricted and adjusted duties → Working while not fully deployable. Failing vetting as a serving officer → What happens if clearance is reviewed or withdrawn. Firearms officers (AFO) → The role, selection and training. Long-term sickness → Sick pay and what happens when absence runs on.
Police welfare

More in this guide series

Start here Welfare hub Sick pay, adjusted duties, injury awards, ill-health retirement and where to get support. Support Support services directory Crisis lines, peer and occupational support, charities and what is confidential. Policies Wellbeing policies The duty of care, the national wellbeing framework and what to ask your force for. Colleagues Supporting a colleague What to look for, how to start the conversation and where to point them. Trauma After a critical incident What support should follow a traumatic incident and how to get it. Injury Injured on duty Reporting, evidence, sick pay, and the route to an injury award. Injury Injury award reviews When an award is reviewed, who decides, what can change and how to challenge it. Data After a data breach What your force must tell you, protecting your accounts and safety, your rights and how compensation works.
Also on PolicePay

Related pay, pension and protection

Support Suicide data and support What is known, how to read it carefully and where to get help. Sickness Long-term sickness Sick pay, half pay and what happens when absence runs on. Injury Injury awards The gratuity, the injury pension and the bands. Protection Protection hub What the schemes pay, where the gaps are and a free calculator.

Disclaimer

PolicePay.co.uk is an independent reference site. It is not a health, counselling or legal service, and this page is general information, not medical, psychological or legal advice. It cannot consider your personal circumstances. If you are struggling, speak to your GP, a qualified professional or one of the services listed on this page. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 999. Details apply to England and Wales unless stated. Details are as checked on 30 September 2026.