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External Support Services Directory

Overview

A wide range of services provide support specifically to doctors, dentists, and other healthcare professionals with their mental health, wellbeing, and other personal and professional challenges.

This page brings together a curated selection of those services to help you find the right support for your circumstances.

This is not an exhaustive list, and the support landscape changes regularly. If you cannot find what you are looking for here, the NHS Practitioner Health self-help and wellbeing page and NHS Resolution's Support for Practitioners page are two of the most comprehensive directories of UK support services for clinicians and are regularly maintained.

Contents

 

General wellbeing and counselling support

Local support

Workplace Wellbeing and Take Time are the local services commissioned by NHSE YH for PGDiTs in our region.

Both are delivered by medical professionals who deeply understand the context of postgraduate training, and they provide a range of therapeutic and counselling interventions which are tailored to individual need. 

 

NHS Practitioner Health is a free, confidential service for doctors, dentists, and other regulated healthcare professionals with mental health concerns or addiction. It is a specialist service staffed by clinicians who understand the specific pressures of healthcare work and is accessed via self-referral.

Talking Therapies is an NHS service providing free psychological therapies like cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), counselling and guided self-help support. Talking Therapies services are available throughout the region and are accessible to anybody registered with a GP. You can be referred by your GP or complete a self-referral online. To find your nearest Talking Therapies service and details of their referral processes and offering, enter the name of your GP surgery on the NHS website. As this is an NHS service, it can also be used by any loved ones who are experiencing challenges with their mental health.

 

Support for doctors

  • BMA Counselling and Peer Support Services are available to all doctors, including non-BMA members. The 24/7 confidential counselling line immediate support and be accessed by telephone: 0330 1231245. Structured counselling and peer support are also available on request.
  • Doctors in Distress is a UK charity dedicated to the mental health of healthcare workers. They run free reflective practice groups, webinars, and peer support groups covering a wide range of topics relevant to clinical work. You can read about and register for these activities via the Doctors in Distress Programmes webpage.
  • Doctors' Support Network is a peer support group run by and for doctors and medical students with mental health concerns. It is free to access, and delivery includes online forums and events.

 

Support for dentists

  • The BDA's wellbeing offer includes access to confidential counselling, resources to support stress management and other wellbeing concerns. 

  • ConfiDental provide a free and confidential listening and signposting service for dental professionals experiencing stress, burnout or emotional overwhelm.
  • The Dentists' Health Support Trust provides dental professionals and dental students with free advice and support on alcohol, drugs, eating disorders and other health issues.
  • The Support for Dental Teams Wellbeing Guide outlines how to assess your own mental health and wellbeing and provides resources for self-care, including signposting to the range of organisations available to support those in the dental profession.

Specialty-specific support

Most royal colleges and faculties offer specialty-specific wellbeing support for their members and PGDiTs, including peer mentoring, helplines, and tailored resources.

Support and resources are available from:

Support by area of concern

This section signposts services for specific areas of concern, although it is worth remembering that many mental health issues can overlap.

You don’t need to have a diagnosis to access support, with most services welcoming self-referrals from people who just need help.

Remember, you can access local deanery-funded counselling and psychological support for all these areas of concern.

 

Suicidal thoughts and crisis support

If you are in immediate danger, please call 999 or visit your nearest A&E

 

For non-immediate but urgent support:

  • NHS Practitioner Health Crisis Line: Text NHSPH to 85258
  • BMA Confidential Counselling Line: Call 0330 123 1245
  • NHS Frontline service: Text FRONTLINE to 85258
  • Samaritans: Call 116 123

NHS Front Service can also be contacted by telephone on 0300 131 7000 between 7am and 11pm.

For longer-term specialist support, our funded local counselling and psychological services or NHS Practitioner Health are the most appropriate first port of call for PGDiTs.

 

Addiction (alcohol, drugs and other dependencies)

  • NHS Practitioner Health is the principal service for doctors and dentists with addiction concerns and provides confidential, specialist treatment.
  • British Doctors and Dentists Group is a peer support network for doctors and dentists in recovery, run by clinicians in recovery themselves.
  • Sick Doctors Trust provides a 24/7 confidential helpline for doctors with concerns about alcohol or drug use, which can be accessed by telephone: 0370 4445163.

 

Bereavement and loss

  • Cruse Bereavement Support is the UK's largest bereavement charity, with a national helpline and local branches. The national helpline can be contacted on: 0808 8081677
  • At a Loss is a charity which has curated a comprehensive directory of bereavement information and support services, covering many different circumstances and need.

 

Depression, anxiety and low mood

 

Disability and long-term health conditions

Please see our Training with a Disability or Long-term Condition pages for tailored guidance for PGDiTs.

For wider signposts:

 

Domestic abuse

The following services provide support for domestic abuse via their helplines:

 

Eating disorders

 

Financial difficulty

 

Neurodiversity

See our Neurodiversity Support webpages for the deanery's Neurodiversity Assessment and Support pathway and other supportive guidance and resources.

 

 

Stress and burnout

  • Doctors in Distress runs reflective practice groups and webinars specifically focused on burnout, compassion fatigue, and sustainable working in healthcare.
  • BMA Wellbeing provides resources on managing fatigue, work-life balance, and rota-related stress.
  • NHS Practitioner Health provides specialist assessment and treatment where stress or burnout has reached the point of affecting your health or ability to work.

 

Trauma (including from clinical incidents and complaints)

Peer Support

Connecting with other PGDiTs who understand the experience of training whilst clinical working can be one of the most valuable forms of support available.

  • Doctors in Distress runs structured reflective practice groups for healthcare workers.
  • Doctors' Support Network provides peer support for doctors with mental health concerns.
  • Tea & Empathy is an informal peer support network for healthcare workers, accessible via Facebook.
  • Autistic Doctors International is a peer support community established by an autistic doctor, for autistic doctors.
  • Many local trusts run peer support groups, Schwartz Rounds, and reflective practice sessions. See your trust's intranet or contact your Medical Education team to find out what is available.

Looking for something else?

If you can’t find what you’re looking for on this page, the NHS Practitioner Health self-help and referrals directory is one of the most comprehensive and maintained directory of UK support services for clinicians. BBC Action Line also have a directory of recommended support organisations based on particular areas of concern. 

For deanery-specific support, including locally commissioned counselling, access to coaching, neurodiversity support, and more please see our Professional Support webpages.

If you are unsure where to start, please submit a Professional Support Self-referral for confidential signposting advice.

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