Welfare and Mental Health Support at Police Service of Northern Ireland

Policing is one of the most psychologically demanding careers in the UK. Officers are regularly exposed to trauma, critical incidents, public aggression, and the cumulative stress of shift work and moral injury. Seeking support is a sign of professional strength, not weakness — and there are robust resources available to help.

This page provides general information about welfare and mental health support relevant to officers at any force. It does not make claims about force-specific services that we cannot verify. Always contact your force occupational health, welfare officer, or HR team for information about what is available locally.

Police Service of Northern Ireland will have an occupational health function, welfare officers, and access to an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) — though the specific provision varies. Contact your line manager, HR department, or Force Federation rep to find out what is currently available to you. We do not publish specific details about individual force welfare services as these change and we cannot verify them.

Your Police Federation representative at local branch level is another key point of contact. They can signpost you to internal welfare support and, where needed, to external specialist services. Federation reps are bound by confidentiality.

Oscar Kilo (oscarkilo.org.uk) is the national police wellbeing service, commissioned by the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC). It provides mental health resources, the Blue Light Programme (a wellbeing tool), and the National Police Wellbeing Survey. All officers can access Oscar Kilo resources regardless of force.

Police Care UK (policecare.org.uk) offers a range of confidential support services for officers and staff affected by trauma, including specialist counselling, welfare grants, and peer support. Services are available to currently serving officers and veterans of policing.

The Police Federation of England and Wales (polfed.org) has welfare resources, a benevolent fund, and can connect officers with specialist legal and welfare support. For Scottish officers, the Scottish Police Federation; for PSNI officers, the Police Federation for Northern Ireland.

Officers experiencing stress, burnout, PTSD, sleep problems, or relationship difficulties as a result of policing should not wait until they are in crisis before seeking help. Early intervention is far more effective. BlueLineHub's Wellbeing Hub contains guides on recognising burnout, understanding trauma responses, managing shift-work sleep disruption, and supporting colleagues.

If you are in immediate mental health distress, contact the Samaritans (116 123, free and available 24/7), Police Care UK, or your force's welfare team. In an emergency, call 999 or 112.