Report Detail

Background

Attached at Appendix A is the combined report for Health, Safety and Wellbeing, providing an update on the previous six months following the last report to SPA People Committee members in February this year.

The report now integrates ill health retirement (IHR) and injury on duty (IoD) information which was previously reported six-monthly through a standalone update.

Further Detail

The Health, Safety and Wellbeing report at Appendix A, details the continuous work in relation to meeting our strategic commitment, strategic delivery, risk/accident/incident/near miss, audit recommendations, and impact.

The report also provides updates on current and emerging health, safety and wellbeing issues and updates regarding the development of policy and practice.

Ill Health Retirement (IHR) and Injury on Duty

This section provides an updated position covering the period 1 January 2026 to 30 June 2026.

Applications for retirement on the grounds of ill health (IHR) are determined under the Police Pensions (Scotland) Regulations 2015. Applications for injury on duty (IOD) awards are considered under the Police (Injury Benefit) (Scotland) Regulations 2007.

IHR Activity: January–June 2026

Across the six-month reporting period, the Scottish Police Authority approved 48 officers for ill health retirement, with one officer redeployed to suitable alternative employment. During the reporting period, there were no instances where the Director of Human Resources' recommendation differed from the final decision made by the Scottish Police Authority.

IHR Process Duration

For officers approved for IHR between 1 January 2026 and 30 June 2026, it took an average of 10.1 months to complete the full process. This is broadly consistent with the 10.4 months reported in the previous reporting period.

The average time from referral to Selected Medical Practitioner (SMP) appointment was 7.0 months, compared with 6.6 months reported previously.

Timescales continue to be influenced by factors including the time required to obtain supporting medical evidence, requests for specialist reports and SMP capacity. Whilst engagement continues with Optima Health and ongoing improvement activity, reducing overall process duration remains important from both an officer wellbeing and workforce planning perspective.

IHR Deep Dive Analysis: Q4 2025/26 and Q1 2026/27

Following the deep dive analysis reported previously, a further review was undertaken of 39 approved IHR cases to identify demographic trends, primary medical drivers and opportunities for organisational learning.

The profile of cases reviewed remained broadly consistent with the previous analysis:

56.4% male and 43.6% female

Average age: 48.1 years

Average service: 21.6 years.

This remains broadly consistent with the previous review, suggesting that IHR continues to most commonly affect officers in mid-to-late career following significant periods of operational service.

Trauma-related mental health conditions remained the most significant driver of IHR, accounting for 41.0% of cases reviewed, compared with 36.4% in the previous review. Many cases reflected the cumulative impact of traumatic operational experiences over extended policing careers.

Musculoskeletal and chronic pain conditions included osteoarthritis, long-term back and spinal conditions and fibromyalgia. Neurological and progressive conditions included Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, Functional Neurological Disorder and Long COVID.

Overall, these three categories accounted for 92.3% of all cases reviewed, demonstrating that the vast majority of IHR cases continue to be associated with trauma-related mental health conditions, musculoskeletal conditions and neurological or progressive illnesses.

Organisational Learning and Improvement Activity

Many of the cases reviewed involved lengthy periods of duty modification, workplace adjustments and attendance management intervention before ill health retirement became the appropriate outcome. This reflects the organisation's commitment to supporting officers to remain in service wherever this is reasonable, sustainable and aligned to operational requirements.

The review also highlighted the importance of ensuring that support arrangements remain purposeful, subject to regular review and progress towards clear outcomes. Trauma-related psychological conditions remained the most common driver of IHR, reinforcing the importance of early intervention, effective wellbeing support and a trauma-informed approach.

Learning from both IHR reviews has informed wider organisational improvement activity relating to attendance management, duty modifications, Occupational Health engagement and ill health retirement pathways. This work aligns closely with HR Case Team organisational learning and the Duty Modifications Action Plan.

A key area of progress has been the development of draft Attendance Support Guidance, currently out for consultation. The guidance provides an end-to-end framework covering attendance management, duty modifications, Occupational Health involvement, capability processes and Ill Health Retirement pathways.

Alongside this, Attendance and Health Oversight Meetings have been introduced to strengthen oversight of complex and long-running cases, while wider activity through the Duty Modifications Action Plan continues to focus on governance, progression, Occupational Health processes and understanding the impact of duty modifications on organisational capacity and deployability.

Collectively, these actions seek to support a more consistent organisational approach whilst ensuring cases progress appropriately and do not remain within attendance management processes without clear direction, review or outcome.

IoD Activity: January – June 2026

During the reporting period, the Scottish Police Authority approved 24 injury on duty awards. There were no instances where the Director of Human Resources' recommendation differed from the final decision made by the Scottish Police Authority.

A review of approved cases identified recurring themes including assaults on officers, officer safety training injuries, musculoskeletal injuries and cumulative traumatic exposure resulting in PTSD or Complex PTSD. These themes align closely with those identified through the IHR review and continue to inform wider wellbeing, prevention and workforce planning activity.

Next Steps

The findings confirm that the key themes identified in the previous reporting period remain consistent.

Trauma-related psychological conditions, musculoskeletal conditions and neurological or progressive conditions continue to account for the majority of IHR cases reviewed.

Over the coming period, focus will remain on implementing the Attendance Support Guidance, progressing the Duty Modifications Action Plan and joint improvement activity with Optima Health, strengthening oversight of long-term attendance and duty modification cases, and ensuring organisational learning from both IHR and IOD outcomes continues to inform workforce planning, wellbeing and prevention activity.