Health & Wellbeing for doctors
Health & Wellbeing for doctors
Working as a doctor is often very rewarding but can also be emotionally and physically demanding. Looking after your health and wellbeing is vital to allow you thrive both in and out of work and provide great care to your patients.
The support a doctor needs for their health and wellbeing is individual and may change throughout their training and career. Needing support is very common and accessing it is encouraged for all doctors, whatever their situation.
Wellbeing at St George’s Hospital
- Health and wellbeing team intranet page – all local wellbeing activities and events, links to support, tips for financial and physical wellbeing Health and Wellbeing – Health and Wellbeing (unily.com).
- Staff Psychological support: Staff Support Service – Contact Staff Support (unily.com); SGH has a confidential psychological support service for staff which offers counselling and other forms of psychological therapies. They generally initially offer 6 sessions. The team also provides a bereavement support group. This is a very valuable resource for doctors who would like support and can be accessed by emailing staffsupport@stgeorges.nhs.uk
- Sleep – SGH is working with the University of Surrey and Prof Steven Lockley to provide the SAFER (Sleep, Alertness, Fatigue in Emergency Responders) programme. This initiative provide sleep education and a questionnaire which screens for sleep disorders. This can be found at Safer Programme | FootestepsFoundation
- Wellbeing fellow – Dr Ruth Austin is currently working in the role as Wellbeing Fellow for IMTs in SW London for 2024-2025. The aim of this role is to provide pastoral support to trainees and implement changes to improve trainees’ wellbeing across the sector. If you are a doctor (IMT or not) with any wellbeing concerns or if you are just not sure who to ask for help, please get in touch by emailing ruth.austin00@stgeorges.nhs.uk
- Equality and Diversity: The SGH EDI team provides support for doctors with disabilities in organising reasonable adjustments and also runs a number of staff support groups such as REACH (Race, Equality, Cultural Heritage) and LGBTQIA+ group. See more at Diversity and Inclusion – Diversity and Inclusion (unily.com)
Wellbeing external resources
- The GMC provides links to useful wellbeing resources available to doctors: Wellbeing resources for doctors – GMC (gmc-uk.org)
- BMA: Counselling and peer support for doctors and medical students (bma.org.uk. Free and confidential 24/7 counselling and peer support services open to all doctors and medical students (regardless of BMA membership), plus their partners and dependents, on 0330 123 1245. There is always someone you can talk to.
- NHS Practitioner Health: Accessing the service for doctors and dentists (practitionerhealth.nhs.uk). Free, confidential NHS service for all doctors and dentists across England and Scotland. The service is provided by health professionals specialising in mental health support to doctors. There is also a specific service within practitioner health for trainee doctors Accessing the Service: TDDSS (practitionerhealth.nhs.uk)
- NHS Staff Support line: NHS England » Support available for our NHS people. Free helpline is available to all NHS staff in England. Trained professionals give advice on coaching, bereavement care, mental health and financial help. Support via text is also available to doctors 24/7 by texting SHOUT to 85258.
- Freedom to Speak Up- National Guardian: The National Guardian’s Office – Freedom to Speak Up
- Relax and recharge at Ratford Retreat Centre which offers retreats and courses for healthcare professionals. They cover techniques to recognise and deal with stress, opportunities to share experiences with colleagues, opportunities to be in nature and yoga classes.