Welcome to the Oscar Kilo, National Police Wellbeing Service bulletin for April 2022.
Read on to find out what we have been up to and what to expect from us in May.
Oscar Kilo awards submissions close
The submission deadline for this year’s Oscar Kilo awards has now closed. We’ll be spending the next few weeks considering the entries and will announce the winners in July – watch this space!
Training update
April has been a bumper month for training, and we ran a full programme of events including:
- 5 Demobilising and Defusing courses
- 3 Peer Support courses
- 2 Structured Interview courses
- 2 Police Superintendents Association Peer Support courses
- 1 Supervisor Wellbeing course
In total, across those courses, 128 officers and staff attended from across 19 different forces.
We had some great feedback too:
‘Thoroughly enjoyable course – I found this course extremely useful. Excellent training.’ (Feedback from Demobilising and Defusing)
‘Excellent Course. Trainer was brilliant at engaging participants.’ (Feedback on Peer Support course)
‘Enjoyable training day and gained a really good insight from course content’. (Feedback on structured interview course)
Find out more about these courses:
Visit our events and training page to see what upcoming training is available and for full details on eligibility and how to secure your place.
Wellbeing vans
Our fleet of wellbeing vans have out and about around the country again this month with eight deployments in April including in Humberside, Dyfed Powys, Devon and Cornwall and Lancashire.
The vans have also been used to provide support at long running search sites, The Grand National and at a serious incident with a challenging crime scene.
One of our original vans has entered a period of refurbishment and we look forward to relaunching this updated model to you soon!
Update from our occupational health team
In February we hosted our first Occupational Health (OH) practitioner forum. It was a really productive event, and we got lots of feedback around how we as the National Police Wellbeing Service can contribute to OH service enhancements in the future which we’ll be considering and taking forwards. In May, we are setting out our plans for a formal national network of OH practitioners which we’ll provide updates about when the plans are finalised.
Find out more about our support in this area
Nuffield Health Long Covid Rehabilitation Programme
We have made the Nuffield Health Long Covid Rehabilitation Programme available on the new Oscar Kilo website. This programme is designed to support you if you are finding it difficult to recover from the long-term effects of COVID-19. Offering a unique blend of physical and emotional support, the self-managed programme can be tailored to your individual rehabilitation needs and provides the tools to help you recover and return to good health and wellbeing.
A look forward at what’s coming up
National wellbeing survey: The results
We had a fantastic response rate to our most recent national police wellbeing survey and we’ve been working hard with Durham University to analyse the results.
The final report is now being produced and we hope to release the results of this in May 2022.
We’ll be publishing this on the website when it’s ready and will provide another update in the next bulletin so keep your eyes peeled!
More about the national survey
Mental Health Awareness Week
Mental Health Awareness Week this year runs from the 9th – 15th May. We’ll be signposting to lots of helpful information and resources throughout the week via our Twitter account @OscarKiloUK
Police Federation Annual Conference
On the 17th and 18th May, we’ll be at the Police Federation Annual Conference. Our Service Director Andy Rhodes will be taking part in a panel session, and we’ll have a promotional stand with the College of Policing, so come and say hello.
Visit the Police Federation website
Webinar: Cancer, work and you
On the 19th May 2022, we’re hosting our first webinar dealing specifically with cancer. The event, led by CI Catherine Pritchard will look at individual experiences, what you should expect from your organisation, and how to support colleagues.
Forensic practitioner network
Our Occupational Health team will be working with the Forensic practitioner network this spring to showcase our work and determine how we can best provide engagement and support to the network. We will also be working more closely with the Occupational Health Nurse Advisors to the Police Service (OHNAPS) so we can continue to provide professional support to OH nurses in policing.