In 2018, the National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS) carried out an extensive review of major incident wellbeing support which resulted in the ‘Police wellbeing and major incidents’ guidance being developed and later published (Tehrani, N., Hesketh, I. & Eades, L. (2020)).
The guidance provides forces with a framework and a five-component model adhering to gold, silver and bronze command protocols and was used to good effect during COVID19 particularly. The guidance remains relevant and should be used by specialists in police forces as part of the wider contingency planning regime. You can access the guidance below.
More recently, that guidance was applied following the major incident and subsequent disorder in Southport in summer 2024. The NPWS also provided support to the Operation Navette gold command, supporting co-ordination in key areas such as Occupational Health (OH) collaboration. The HMICFRS review of Operation Navette and learning from within the gold group has since enabled the NPWS to look at refreshing the guidance so that the inspectorates’ recommendations are addressed, the post incident learning is taken forward and new developments in national wellbeing capabilities are incorporated.
In this section you will find the original guidance and the findings and recommendations from Op Navette around ‘How the wellbeing and resilience of officers might be affected by repeated exposure to incidents of disorder’. You can also access the new additional guidance which provides a more practical and accessible prioritisation list for leaders operating at gold, silver and bronze levels.
'Police wellbeing: A staged approach when dealing with major incidents' guidance
This guidance document, published in 2020, aims to provide a framework of support to human resources and occupational health teams when responding to major incidents.
Police wellbeing and major incidents guidance 2025 update
This does not replace the above existing ‘Police wellbeing and major incidents’ guidance. It seeks to add to it, to provide a more practical and accessible prioritisation list for leaders operating at gold, silver and bronze levels.
It also does not replace existing emergency plans in specialist areas such as CBRN nor will it duplicate legal requirements under the Health and Safety Act or similar legislation e.g. working time directive.
What it does provide is a simple, accessible ‘game-plan’ that can be quickly implemented. It provides action lists for four key roles which can be used pre, during and post major incidents whether pre-planned or spontaneous.
Background: The HMICFRS review
The fatal stabbings of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Da Silva Aguiar in Southport on Monday 29 July 2024 triggered a rapid spiral of violent disorder across the UK. Local forces tackled early flashpoints, but the scale and ferocity of assaults, criminal damage and attacks on officers soon out-stripped regional capacity.
At first, the police responded to incidents of disorder at local and regional levels. Forces collaborated quickly as the violence escalated. After several days of extensive violence, the police service decided it had to respond more widely to stop the disorder, especially in the north of England.
On Monday 5 August, the National Police Chiefs’ Council authorised Operation Navette. Managed jointly with the National Police Coordination Centre, from 7 August, the mobilisation became the largest deployment of public order and public safety (POPS) officers since 2011: 1,622 police support units delivered roughly 40,000 duty days. Peak resourcing came on Saturday 10 August, the opening day of the English Football League season, when 6,675 POPS officers were on the streets, reinforced by regional organised crime units, RICCs, Counter Terrorism Policing and the National Crime Agency.
With violence subsiding by Monday 19 August, Operation Navette moved into recovery and forces returned to routine duties. On 6 September 2024, the Home Secretary commissioned a rapid review of policing’s cross-force response.
On the 18th of December 2024, ‘An inspection of the police response to the public disorder in July and August 2024’ was published. This first report presented the findings, recommendations and urgent lessons arising from local, regional and national actions during the disorder. Three themes were identified as a result of this inspection. Each with their own recommendations.
These and any subsequent updates and additions to the major incident guidance focus on the findings and recommendations from the third theme ‘How the wellbeing and resilience of officers might be affected by repeated exposure to incidents of disorder.’
Findings in relation to the third theme: ‘How the wellbeing and resilience of officers might be affected by repeated exposure to incidents of disorder.’
Officers must respond to incidents of violence and disorder that place them at risk of harm. The review examined how the recent violent disorder had affected their resilience and wellbeing. The review also wanted to identify what support was available to them during and after the disorder.
The review found that the psychological and physical rehabilitation support forces gave to officers during and after the disorder was inconsistent. Officers responded positively when forces provided systematic and well-planned wellbeing support. But when forces considered their wellbeing as an afterthought, they felt let down. This tended to be when a force hastily completed its plan to deal with the effects of responding to the disorder.
Operation Navette: Additional wellbeing lessons learnt
- A formal OH collaboration arrangement is required to ensure plans are in place, agreed and tested ahead of large-scale major incidents.
- More work is needed to identify gaps in major incident welfare support working with the police treatment centres, the wider police charity sector and the NHS.
- Protocols to provide gold support from NPWS must be established and tested with NPOCC.
- Recording of injuries / hospitalisations must be collected more accurately and frequently.
- Psychological Risk Assessments must be extended to all operational facing roles to ensure early intervention systems are in place.
Developments in national capability 2018-2025
- A Police Covenant for policing in England and Wales was established in 2022 establishing a commitment to protect the physical and psychological safety of serving officers and staff as well as families and leavers.
- A Chief Medical Officer for policing is now in place providing expert guidance and coordination of clinical issues and coordination of a resilient Occupational Health network.
- The NPWS has developed forward deployment assets which are frequently used in support of major incidents
- NPWS provides a range of courses in key areas such as mental health peer support, OK9 dogs, peer debriefing and Operation Hampshire assaults support.
- The NPCC Health Safety and Wellbeing Board provides a channel into policing for a new national wellbeing strategy and workforce prioritisation guidance which is aligned to this refresh of the major incident guidance.
Gold commander
Role clarity
The following responsibilities are owned by the gold commander:
- Explicit reference in the gold strategy of the aims and objectives in respect of optimising the physical and psychological protection of all staff deployed. Ensure cascaded through all policy logs.
- A good level of knowledge in relation to existing force / national wellbeing capabilities.
- The force ensures its senior leaders are familiar with the major incident guidance and have tested its resilience and effectiveness.
- Integration of wellbeing into the planning process alongside established risk assessment processes with welfare roles identified at GSB levels.
- Put into place effective and accurate reporting systems to capture assaults, injuries, hospitalisations and psychological injuries.
- Actively engage and support the force Occupational Health / welfare teams ensuring they can input at GSB decision making fora.
- Look ahead to anticipate demand / finance / harm emerging long after the incident has ended.
Priority actions
- Nominate a gold welfare lead and establish their role in the gold strategy. In the event of national mobilisation they will be required to attend a national gold welfare meeting as and when scheduled by NPOCC.
Task gold welfare to establish a sub-group to coordinate GSB welfare activity, initiate data collection, problem solve and report key risks into gold.
Logistics matter. At every key decision consider the wellbeing impact on officers and staff deployed considering issues ranging from equipment, recovery time, fatigue, hydration, refreshments, toilet facilities, refrigeration for medication to family support if hospitalised.
Task gold welfare to liaise directly with all the NHS acute trusts in force area to clarify protocols for injured staff. There must be a working assumption that injured staff do not wait for treatment in the same location as arrested persons for example. Likewise, the established SOPs for needle stick injuries and blood borne viruses must be well understood by line managers and A&E departments.
Adopt a professionally curious approach to the realities of staff deployed to frontline roles using multiple channels of engagement. Primarily through an effective GSB communication process but also consider snap surveys, on-site visits and close liaison with staff associations and networks.
Check finance code is available and claim parameters set by national gold.
Consider public order officers and staff as ‘high risk’ roles requiring individual support plans in the event of injuries and psychological risk assessments (PRAs) as the norm.
Silver commander
Role clarity
The following responsibilities are owned by the silver commander:
- Clarity of the gold strategy aims and objectives so that they are able to be translated into tangible, realistic activities. Never over-promise to under-deliver.
- A good level of knowledge in relation to existing force / national wellbeing capabilities.
- Silver leaders are familiar with the major incident guidance and have tested its resilience and effectiveness.
- Responsible for establishing an effective silver cell comprising key staff from relevant roles such as Occupational Health, Health and Safety, Operation Hampshire etc.
- Responsible for liaison with NHS acute trusts to ensure A & E protocols are in place and line managers are fully aware of the SOPs.
- Responsible for collecting, assessing and analysing workforce health data for assaults, injuries and trauma exposure.
- Reality checking staff support is delivered to the gold command aims and objectives.
Priority actions
- Convene internal silver welfare cell comprising relevant staff / roles e.g. Bronze leads, MH peer support coordinators, post incident coordinators (such as CISD, PD or TRiM), HR, OH, H&S, DEI, staff associations / unions, Op Hampshire, comms and engagement lead, staff networks.
Set clear expectations for silver cell in line with gold strategy and task out staff engagement plan with immediate effect.
Identify key roles at bronze and cascade role clarity down to them and set expectations.
Check logistics in particular the availability of water, refreshments and hydration sachets for staff deployed.
Agree data collection requirement (check national requirement).
Agree OH / EAP demand monitoring process immediately and task OH to assess likely risks to service should surge in referrals occur. Consider activating inter-force collaboration support.
Ensure OH / People lead is aware and attending national OH cell
Task out actions to develop a post incident recovery plan with immediate effect.
Bronze commander
Role clarity
Bronze commanders are the most important element of the overall strategy because (a) they are closest to the incident and (b) they will most likely be line managers of staff deployed and as such be best placed to provide post incident contact / support.
The following responsibilities are owned by the bronze commander:
- Gain 100% clarity from the silver cell on their priorities and set realistic goals given the often fluid and dynamic nature of critical incidents.
- Must be both approachable and well informed. Possess detailed knowledge about the services available to staff from within the organisation and externally from charities etc. They are not therapists, and neither are they trained to construct care plans. However, they are responsible for ensuring their staff receive the support they need during and after the incident.
- On the ground liaison with A & E departments in the event of staff requiring urgent care to follow through on gold/silver agreements with acute trusts.
- Knowledge of SOPs to be followed when needle stick injuries or BBV incident occur. If needed, these are accessible for Occupational Health practitioners via the Good Practice Hub in the Occupational Health member area of this website.
- Engage with staff to identify unforeseen risks / issues or agreed actions which are not being delivered effectively. Be confident in communicating these problems up through the command structure.
- Be the specific point of contact (SPOC) for Operation Hampshire 7-point support plans and data collection as per silver policy.
- Have completed the NPWS Peer Debriefing Model course, available here.
Priority actions
- Read the strategy and become familiarised with the gold and silver plan. Ask for clarity if necessary.
Check the availability of post-incident coordinators or similarly trained staff and start to consider when you might trigger the process.
Be prepared to carry out clinical debriefing before end of tour with all staff involved under your command.
Consider what additional support might be required for staff who are hospitalised in particular family / friends / colleagues involvement.
Ensure you are 100% clear on working time parameters, food and refreshment breaks, kit protocols and what steps you need to take if they are not adequate.
Look after yourself. You are of no use to your staff if you aren’t in good shape. Ensure you have what you need to do your job and show confidence in raising concerns if you don’t.
Occupational health leads
Role clarity
The NPWS will support national gold to advise on welfare and wellbeing issues and coordinate the occupational health network to enable reporting on the following:
- Updates from Occupational Health network meeting coordinated by the Chief Medical Officer and Clinical Governance Group.
- Flagging issues like excessive OH demand, good practice and finance requests.
- Assisting to collect and assess assaults and injury data using Op Hampshire SPOCs.
- Convening Police Treatment Centre meetings and Police charities UK meetings.
- Liaison with NHS partners in partnership with Home Office.
- Coordination of outreach van deployments to priority affected area.
- Forward planning with OH, PTCs and charities for longer term demand.