GP Health Service & Financial Support for Doctors in Difficulty

What is GPH?

Access to confidential mental health and addiction support for GPs and GP trainees across England.

http://gphealth.nhs.uk/

The NHS GP Health Service (GPH) is a service for GPs or GP trainees across England, with issues relating to mental health concerns or addiction problems, often where this might be affecting their work.

The central service is based in London, and is led by Dr Clare Gerada FRCGP FRCPsych, a general practitioner with extensive expertise in managing addiction and mental health problems and significant experience of treating health professionals. We have experienced clinicians and therapists working from locations across England able to offer assessment and ongoing treatment.

GPH is a confidential service, which seeks to protect doctorpatients from the stigma associated with mental ill health and addiction. GPH aims to get doctor-patients healthy and working, whilst safeguarding their patients, making sure the doctor is well enough to see patients safely. GPH recognises that:

Doctors are more likely than the average person to suffer from problems with drugs, drink and depression.
Up to 20% of UK doctors become depressed at some point in their career.
Doctors have higher standardised mortality rates in respect of cirrhosis, accident and suicide.
Suicide rates among female NHS doctors have been shown to be twice that of the general female population.
Evidence shows that doctors are more likely to suffer from work-related mental ill health than other professions. GPH is hosted by the NHS Practitioner Health Programme which has significant success rates for its practitioner-patients
88.1% remain in or returned to work during contact with PHP.
81% abstinent and attending PHP on a regular basis. (This compares to 10-20% of non-health professional population being abstinent).

Financial support for doctors and their families - new portal

The main medical charities have got together to produce a new website portal that will help doctors in difficulties to find the most suitable charity to apply to. BMA Charities has worked with the Cameron Fund, the RMBF, the Royal Medical Foundation, and the Society for the Assistance of Medical Families (formerly Widows & Orphans) and the portal has now gone live.

Doctors, or their dependents, and medical students, can answer a very short questionnaire to find the best charity to help them. They can then link to that charity for more information about eligibility and application. And there is also information about other organisations that can offer help.

The website address is:

https://www.doctorshelp.org.uk/