The Police Treatment Centres

The Police Treatment Centres are located at Harrogate and Auchterarder, but it seems many officers are still not fully aware of the charity’s services.

More than ninety per cent of officers from Tayside Police donate £5.24 per month. This means if they suffer an injury on or off duty, or find themselves having to cope with an illness, depression or stress, they will be eligible for intensive treatment provided their GP agrees.

“The Police Treatment Centres” is a registered charity which has been in existence for over one hundred years. The aim of the organisation is to provide two centres – Castlebrae in Auchterarder, Perthshire and St Andrews in Harrogate, North Yorkshire – whereby serving and retired officers can receive intensive physiotherapy, recuperation and complementary treatments to aid their return to better health. There is a very active programme of treatment, exercise and education available for physio patients and for officers suffering from stress and related conditions there are also a number of workshops and classes in place. Last year 45 serving and retired officers from Tayside were treated as inpatients at Castlebrae.

Michael Baxter QPM is the Chief Executive of the Charity.

Each year more than 3500 officers receive treatment at the two centres. Following their stay they are asked to complete a feedback form; almost everyone who has done so this year stated they found their treatment to be beneficial and they would recommend the centres to a colleague. On his form one officer wrote: “This has been an exceptionally beneficial two weeks for me. I now have a complete understanding of why I was suffering lower back problems and how to address this. The education, coupled with the exercise programme has already given me immense pain relief.”

The cost of running the Northern Police Convalescent and Treatment Centres is more than £3 million each year. The centres are funded primarily by donations from serving police officers and other supporters; no funding is received from local or central Government.

For more information, log on to www.thepolicetreatmentcentres.org. Forms can also be obtained from the Federation Office or downloaded using the linsk below. Officers wishing to make regular contributions to the Charity can do so via the Payroll Department.

PTC application form – INPATIENT

PTC Companion application form

PTC application form – OUTPATIENT