Staff absences at Cleveland Fire Brigade due to mental health issues up 56% over past three years
Last updated 1st May 2025
Cleveland Fire Brigade has mapped out the support available for officers and staff after figures showed a 56% rise in mental health-related sickness absences over the past three years.
The brigade saw successive increases in days being lost for this reason between 2021/22 and the last financial year 2023/24.
In 2021/22 a total of 1,964 duty days were chalked off due to the likes of anxiety, depression and stress, rising to 2,078 over the next 12 months.
In 2023/24 the figure hit 3,079 days, meaning a cumulative 56.7% rise in absences over the three year period.
Meanwhile, the cost of such absences in terms of salaries and other employee deductions has been put at more than £5m between 2021 and 2024.
Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, which represents firefighters, said there was a “mental health crisis” in fire and rescue services.
He said: “Since attending traumatic incidents is an unavoidable part of the job for firefighters, mental health support is vital.”
Mr Wrack said such provision was “patchy” across the UK and claimed previous financial cuts meant “firefighters are being pushed beyond limits to keep the public safe”.
A spokesperson for the Cleveland brigade told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “We take the health and wellbeing of all employees including operational firefighters, control room staff and corporate personnel seriously.
“We have well embedded health and wellbeing strategies that place a strong emphasis on mental health support.
“We remain committed to ensuring the wellbeing of our workforce and continue to invest in proactive initiatives to support our staff across all roles in the brigade.”
The organisation said services included peer support via ‘blue light mental health champions’ and counselling and specialist therapies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) for those affected by trauma.
It also had a 24/7 confidential employee assistance programme providing access to immediate professional support when needed.
A trauma risk management system to help individuals struggling was in place, while the Fire Fighter’s Charity offered specialist mental health services to help manage psychological wellbeing, the brigade said.
The sickness absences also came with a cost, according to research compiled by the firm Accident Claims Advice, which employs specialist solicitors to deal with personal injury claims.
Responding to a previous Freedom of Information request, a brigade spokesperson said: “The calculated costs that went into our performance report for sickness absence were £1,435,325.60 for 2021/22, then £1,644,263.10 for 2022/23 and for 2023/24, an estimated £1,925,828.94.”
Cleveland Fire Brigade employs more than 600 staff and operates 14 fire stations across the area.
It also has an administration, technical and training hub in Hartlepool where its control room handling 999 calls from the public is based.
According to its website in the last 12 months it dealt with a total of 6,993 incidents, including fires and road traffic accidents.
The website also indicated a recent decline in the sickness absence rate among staff from 10.7% to 8.48%.