The psychological impact of working in the Prison Service in England and Wales: A study of recorded absences for mental health and staff attrition rates between 2010 and 2024 using Freedom of Information Act data

Prison officers face considerable challenges in their day-to-day work, stemming both from the nature of their role and the environment in which they operate. Over the past two decades, these challenges have intensified, with the prison estate in England and Wales widely regarded as being ‘in crisis’. This article uses Freedom of Information data from 2010 to 2024 to examine sickness absences attributed to psychological reasons among Prison Service employees. The findings reveal a significant increase in psychological illness–related absences, rising from 5.66% to 12.90%. More concerning is the sharp rise in the proportion of staff leaving the service who had previously taken psychological sick leave, now accounting for 39% of all leavers. These findings offer a troubling insight into the mental health and well-being of prison staff, showing that sickness rates in the Prison Service exceed those in the police and are only slightly below those in the Probation Service during comparable periods.