A police chief monitoring long-term staff sickness treads a fine line. He or she should offer appropriate support for genuine cases of illness, but must deal robustly with malingerers.

My former colleagues in the Police Service have been working hard to reduce the number of lost days, but in some forces the levels of extended sick leave appear to be creeping upwards.

As a chief constable [of Norfolk], each month I would sit with my medical team to rule on whether a colleague’s illness warranted further paid sick leave. Cases where officers were recuperating from injuries incurred in the line of duty, or struggling with stress-related conditions caused by traumatic experiences, were heartrending. Others appeared dubious, with no obvious trigger for the illness or insufficient information for the medics to make a diagnosis.

One of the most common ailments in the latter category is the “dodgy back”. There are cases where the word “dodgy” applies more to the claim than the ailment.

There are two potential consequences of getting the adjudication wrong: genuine cases are not treated seriously and/or the person swinging the lead gains financially.

It is right that an officer suffering from a genuine illness should, in the worst cases, be able to retire on an index-linked pension. But it sticks in the throat when questionable cases cannot be exposed and someone retires with the benefits intended for genuinely ill or injured colleagues.

Recent reforms have attempted to curb abuses by enforcing half-pay after six months’ sickness and no pay after 12 months, and it has been amusing to see how many miraculous recoveries occur at one of those tipping points.

What is needed is an unrelenting focus on each case of extended sickness. Managers need to be intrusive and inquiring to weed out the shirkers and ensure the best assistance for genuine cases.

— Andy Hayman was Assistant Commissioner for Special Operations at Scotland Yard

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