Mental health of doctors
Thursday, 21 Feb 2008 09:54
Govt wants doctors to be better supported in their mental health
The government has launched new recommendations aimed at supporting doctors to look after their own mental health.
Professor Louis Appleby, the national director for mental health in England, outlined a number of ways doctors should seek help if needed.
His report, Mental Health and Ill Health in Doctors, says medical schools and medical royal colleges should encourage the use of mental health services for doctors in training.
It also calls for doctors who are ill to be treated first and foremost as patients, not colleagues, and says rules on confidentiality should be strictly observed.
"We know that many doctors are affected by mental ill health, particularly depression and drug or alcohol addiction, and we also know that many doctors do not go for early treatment, if at all," Professor Appleby said.
"Many doctors are too worried about confidentiality or the effect on their career to do what they would tell their patients to do."
He added that the recommendations are advised for other healthcare workers as well, and called on local and national organisations to take forward the issues raised.
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