Prison officer with anxiety or depression: can you join?

In shortA health issue will not necessarily prevent you doing the job, but HMPPS publishes no list of accepted or excluded conditions, so the answer depends on the individual picture.

The published position from HMPPS is encouraging but careful. The recruitment pages say a physical or mental health issue will not necessarily prevent you from doing the job, and that where appropriate relevant adjustments will be recommended.

They also say it is vital to declare pre-existing physical and mental health conditions so that the service can suitably assess your ability to perform the full range of duties. There is a confidential assessment by a trained occupational health professional as part of the medical stage.

• Any website that gives you a firm yes or no for 'prison officer with depression' is going beyond what is published.
• The honest answer is that it depends on the individual picture, assessed by occupational health, and that a past or current diagnosis is not an automatic bar.
• This guide is written for England and Wales (HMPPS). The Operational Support Grade role has more limited prisoner contact, and our guide to the OSG role explains the differences, though we cannot say whether it uses the same medical standard.

In shortThe assessment looks at whether you can manage the demands, with support, over a long career; a history of anxiety or depression does not mean you cannot.

It helps to be clear-eyed about the role, not to put you off but because good preparation starts with the real picture. The careers site says the work involves handling stressful, traumatic and at times emotional issues.

None of that means that people with a history of anxiety or depression cannot do the job. It means that the assessment is looking at whether you can manage those demands, with the right support, over a long career.

Sleep, routine and a reliable support network matter in shift work for everyone, and they are especially relevant if your condition is sensitive to disrupted routine. Our guides to prison officer shift patterns and stress and wellbeing describe what working life involves.

• Rolling shifts that include nights, weekends and public holidays; in the published pattern shifts can start around 7am.
• Roughly six prisoners supervised by each officer, according to the careers site.
• Searches, security, use of radios and keys, de-escalation and control and restraint techniques.

In shortDeclare accurately, in your own words; detailed health questions come after the assessments, which fits the Equality Act's rules on pre-offer health enquiries.

The careers site is direct: it is vital that you declare any pre-existing physical or mental health conditions. The reason given is that this allows the service to assess your ability to perform the full range of duties.

In practice, health information is gathered at the medical stage, after you have passed the online assessment centre and as part of pre-employment checks, which take 8 to 10 weeks.

The medical is carried out by a trained occupational health professional and includes an eye test, a hearing test, a blood pressure check and basic health screening.

Why the timing is not accidental

Under section 60 of the Equality Act 2010, an employer generally must not ask about an applicant's health before offering work, or including them in a pool of successful candidates, except for specified reasons such as finding out whether they can take part in an assessment, making reasonable adjustments, or establishing whether they can carry out a function that is intrinsic to the job.

What that means for the stages

That is why the detailed health questions come after the assessments, while the application form asks only whether you need adjustments. We are not saying how HMPPS applies the section in every case; it is simply the legal background to why the order of stages looks the way it does.

In shortIt can be, if it has a substantial, long-term effect on daily activities; the question is the effect on you, not the diagnosis, and you do not need the label to ask for adjustments.

The Equality Act 2010 protects people with a disability from discrimination in recruitment and employment. GOV.UK explains that you are disabled under the Act if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.

'Substantial' means more than minor or trivial, for example if an everyday task takes much longer than usual, and 'long-term' means 12 months or more.

Conditions that fluctuate or recur can count, and the Act does not list conditions other than a few that are covered automatically, so there is no list on which anxiety or depression appear.

That means the question is not whether you have a diagnosis of anxiety or depression but what effect your condition has, or would have without treatment, on your daily life over time. For some people it will meet the definition; for others, for example a single short episode that resolved, it may not.

In shortTick 'yes' on the form and HMPPS agrees adjustments before any assessment; you will not be penalised for asking.

HMPPS runs a reasonable adjustments scheme for applicants. It describes a reasonable adjustment as a change to any part of the assessment process that removes or reduces a disadvantage, and it is available for a diagnosed or undiagnosed disability, a long-term condition, or a short-term illness or injury.

You tick 'yes' on the application form, and HMPPS contacts you to agree adjustments before any test, interview or assessment. The page promises that you will not be penalised or judged for applying for an adjustment.

• Extra time for timed exercises, interviews and written tests.
• Staff reading questions aloud or transcribing spoken answers.
• Interview questions provided in writing, with advance access to sample questions.
• Flexibility over when exercises are scheduled, such as a morning or afternoon slot.

In shortThe questions, criteria and outcomes are not published, so what you can prepare is the information.

After the online assessment centre and a vacancy being available, pre-employment checks begin, and the medical assessment is carried out at one of the published sites by a trained occupational health professional.

The careers site's description is confined to the eye test, hearing test, blood pressure and basic screening, plus assessment of any declared conditions. It does not publish the questions, the decision criteria or the outcomes. We therefore cannot describe a typical decision, and anything we said about one would be a guess.

In shortAccess to Work and your establishment's own support are worth asking about; if you are struggling now, talk to Samaritans on 116 123 or your GP.

Access to Work is a GOV.UK programme that can help you get or stay in work if you have a physical or mental health condition or disability. It can fund specialist equipment, support workers and travel, and offers tailored mental health support with one-to-one sessions delivered by contracted providers.

It does not pay for reasonable adjustments that an employer is legally obliged to make, it does not affect other benefits, and mental health support applicants cannot reapply if they have received it previously. Whether you can use it before you start work depends on its eligibility rules, so check the GOV.UK page.

• Employers also have their own support. We have not verified the detail of what HMPPS offers prison officers in terms of occupational health, wellbeing services or peer support, so the sensible step is to ask at interview or after appointment what is available at your establishment.
• If you are already a prison officer and your condition worsens, see our guides on stress and wellbeing, trauma and PTSD and sick pay.
• Waiting until you feel perfectly well before applying is not required, but applying while in acute difficulty can add pressure you do not need, and there will be future recruitment rounds.

In shortAsk for the outcome and reasons in writing, check the review and reapplication process, and take advice early if you think you were treated unfairly.

A decision at the medical stage can be disappointing, and it is worth knowing your options. The policy for re-assessment after a medical failure is not published on the pages we read.

Waiting periods published elsewhere for other stages, such as six months after failing the assessment centre, do not necessarily apply to a medical outcome.

In shortAccurate information and sustainable routines; being honest about a health history is what the process is designed to hear.

Preparation here is about two things: accurate information and sustainable routines. The checklist below is not a guarantee of any outcome, but it covers what most candidates in your position find useful. If you have a treating clinician, ask them to look at it with you.

Remember that being honest about a health history is not a weakness in this process; it is what the process is designed to hear. Candidates who understand their own condition, treatment and triggers are usually better placed to describe it, and better placed to build a working life that keeps them well.

1. Read the vacancy and the careers pages on health declarations and reasonable adjustments.
2. Tick 'yes' for reasonable adjustments if you would find extra time, written questions or flexible timing useful.
3. Write a short, factual summary of your history, treatment and current position for the medical.
4. Ask your GP or clinician what supporting information they can provide and how long it takes.
5. Think about how you manage sleep, routine and stress on shifts, and what support you would use.
6. Check the practical side: commute, early starts, residential training away from home during the foundation course.