Nearly 2,000 Metropolitan Police officers took more than 133,000 days off sick due to mental health issues, new figures reveal. The data, published by Scotland Yard, shows that 1,998 officers collectively recorded 133,565 absences for mental health reasons, averaging over two months per officer. This equates to roughly four days off per year for each of the Met's 32,332 officers.
Paula Dodds, chair of the Met Police Federation, criticised the force for failing to support struggling staff. She described the situation as “outrageous” and highlighted a lack of trained colleagues to spot officers in crisis. “The support that officers get is not good enough,” she said, noting that officers experience 400-600 traumatic events in their careers with insufficient help.
The figures break down into 7,329 shifts lost to stress, 4,117 to depression and anxiety, 1,599 to unspecified psychological disorders, 1,049 to trauma, and 508 to fatigue. Additionally, 1,272 officers were off for more than 28 days. The data comes amid a lawsuit from former custody sergeant Kirstie Coy-Martin, 52, who is seeking £1 million in compensation, claiming she developed a phobia of police stations after repeated exposure to child abuse and death scenes.
Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley faces a £260 million budget gap, forcing service cuts. A recent morale survey found that 93% of officers experiencing stress, low mood, or anxiety attributed it to work, with 60% citing high workload and 51% poor work-life balance. The Met's spokesperson said: “Policing is a tough job… The Met puts wellbeing front and centre… but we are stretched in resources.”
