YOUR comment and headline "Action needed to reduce this sickness bill" (LET, June 9), are misleading because both give the impression that sickness levels in the Lancashire force are rising and that nothing is being done to combat this.

In truth, our fitness levels are well on schedule to meet the exacting targets we set ourselves and a great deal is being done to ensure we take care of the welfare of our staff.

We are about to appoint a full time medical officer of health and we have a specialist medical unit looking after all the health needs of the constabulary employees.

We continually monitor sickness levels and the success of this clearly shows in last month's figures which reveal that the levels for support staff have dropped to 3.99 per cent which is below the four per cent target while for police officers the figure is 4.51 per cent.

You are right when you state police officers have a job that is among the "most dangerous and stressful of all," which is why we in Lancashire Constabulary pride ourselves on the levels of health screening and support we offer everybody.

There has been no slippage in our efforts to maintain our standards and we are pleased that our sickness record compares favourably with the majority of other forces in the United Kingdom.

JOHN VINE, Assistant Chief Constable, Human Resources.

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