Police sick levels reach highest levels in four years

Police
sickness figures are at the highest level in four years, despite a Government
crackdown on ill health and early retirement, a report by Her Majesty’s
Inspectorate of Constabulary says.

Officers
had an average of 12 days off work because of sickness in the year to March
2001, according to leaked figures published in the Sunday Telegraph.

According
to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, 1.5 million days were lost at a
cost of more than £240m to the taxpayer.

Absence
varied across the UK forces, with South Wales and Gwent police among the worst
with an average 16.1 and 15.4 sick days respectively.

Sickness
and ill health retirement were two key issues that the Government hoped to
address in the troubled Police Reform Bill which was recently rejected by the
House of Lords.

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http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/hmic/hmic.htm

By Ross Wigham