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Please note that we are not an emergency service

For urgent help and support please see below

Urgent Help:

- Tell someone you trust how you are feeling

- Go to your emergency department

- Contact your GP

PSW is here to provide personal and professional support and development, to postgraduate learners across NHS England South West; to reach their full potential and provide safe patient care.

1-1 support is available for doctors, dentists, pharmacists and Advanced Care Practitioners who are in training.

Pharmacists in training will be triaged and referred by their supervisor currently

This is a confidential service, separate from your educational supervision.

You can find out more about what we do by emailing england.psw.sw@nhs.net

If you have been off work for >3 months, the Supported Return to Training (SuppoRTT) team may be more appropriate

Concerned about your training and education? E mail: Escalatingconcerns.sw@hee.nhs.uk

About us:

Click on the above video to find out more about what the PSW team in the South West can do for you.

Other sources of support:
Trust Support:

Employee Assistance or Staff Support service - Check your intranet pages or ask HR or your PGME team for information.

Occupational Health- support to help you return to work. Ask your supervisor for a referral. Some OH departments allow you to self-refer.

SuppoRTT Champion- Supported Return to Training- for individual support returning to work/training after 12 weeks or more away from the work environment.

Well and Resilient Doctors - WARD - are a trust based peer support group for you to talk to and have useful resources on their website.

Professional Support & Wellbeing service - see how you can get in touch below.

SuppoRTT webpages have valuable information about SuppoRTT events and groups.

Our Quality team are available if you wish to raise concerns about your clinical environment and have put together a useful Supporting & Escalating Concerns Pathway.

How to get in touch:

We offer a confidential, non-judgmental space in which to explore the challenges you are facing and make a bespoke plan of support.

If you would like to self-refer to PSW, or make a referral on behalf of someone you supervise, please click here and fill out the referral form.

The PSW are very happy to answer any queries you might have, you can contact the team on england.psw.sw@nhs.net

If you have a concern regarding the provision of education and training in your placement, please contact the Quality Team.

Webinars:

NHS Horizons hold webinars on the second Wednesday of every month, with different wellbeing focuses - including finances, leadership, working parents, preparing for winter, psychological safety and many more. You can register your interest in upcoming webinars, and review previously recorded webinars here.

Our NHS People have developed a range of bitesize learning and guides which you can register to access for free here and which covers areas such as Inclusion, Resilience, Health & Well-being conversations and Supporting Others During Difficult Times

*The above resources and others on the PSW webpages do not represent content endorsement by NHS England; the resource links serve as a platform to host accessible information that may be useful to doctors in training wishing to look after their mental health and wellbeing

This page was last updated October 21st 2024 (5 months ago)

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Professional Support and Wellbeing (South West)

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Please note that we are not an emergency service For urgent help and support please see below PSW is here to provide personal and professional support and development, to postgraduate learners across NHS England South West; to reach their full potential and provide safe patient care.

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Accessing the Service

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The Psychiatrists’ Support Service (PSS) supports you in your practice.

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DocHealth is a confidential, not for profit, psychotherapeutic consultation service for all practising doctors. The service is open to all practising doctors in the UK and is supported by the British Medical Association and Royal Medical Benevolent Fund. All consultations are currently taking place via video call.

We help doctors to explore their difficulties, both professional and personal, through Consultant Medical Psychotherapists who have the collective experience of treating over 3000 doctors in the last 20 years. We aim to facilitate greater understanding by the doctor of their presenting difficulties, thus enabling them to regain greater control of their situation.

The service is for qualified doctors only, we do not offer consultations for medical students. We suggest students who need psychological assessment or treatment seek this through university counselling or medical services.
If you require financial assistance to access DocHealth, please let us know. We are able to cover fees for doctors in financial difficulty where appropriate. Contact us on 0207 383 6533 or enquiries@dochealth.org.uk
Please note that DocHealth is not an emergency service.
If you feel you are at risk or in need of urgent help, seek support from your GP, your local mental health service if you are under their care, or attend A&E.

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DocHealth is a confidential, not for profit, psychotherapeutic consultation service for all practising doctors. The service is open to all practising doctors in the UK and is supported by the British Medical Association and Royal Medical Benevolent Fund. All consultations are currently taking place via video call.

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Doctors’ health: stigma and the professional discomfort in seeking help

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Doctors’ health: stigma and the professional discomfort in seeking help

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discomfort in seeking help

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What Works For Wellbeing?- 5 Fundamentals - Doctors in Distress

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by Dr Anna Baverstock and Dr Jess Morgan

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An Improbable Psychiatrist by Dr Rebecca Lawrence

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An Improbable Psychiatrist by Dr Rebecca Lawrence

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An Improbable Psychiatrist by Rebecca Lawrence review – doctor turned patient

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A brave memoir from a psychiatrist with severe mental illness that describes a failing system from within

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Beneath the White Coat: Doctors, Their Minds and Mental Health by Clare Gerada

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Beneath the White Coat: Doctors, Their Minds and Mental Health by Clare Gerada

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This timely book offers a balanced and thoughtful review of the current mental health emergency and its impact upon and among medical professionals, supported by the best available evidence and illustrated through real-life cases. Recognising the increasing stressors in the role including the impact of the environment in which doctors work, the book examines some of the key emotional drivers for this unhappiness among doctors at work - shame, stigma, suffering and sacrifice - and offers practical steps to emotional and physical recovery.

Despite the obvious challenges and stresses of the role, with the right support in place the vast majority of doctors can thrive in their jobs. In reading this book, policy makers, politicians, educators, hospital managers will be reminded of the ethical duty to ensure that doctors are cared for and have access to the time, people and spaces to remain psychological healthy, while doctors will learn to recognize and seek actively the help that they need, and to support and guide one another.

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Beneath the White Coat: Doctors, Their Minds and Mental Health

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Beneath the White Coat: Doctors, Their Minds and Mental Health : Gerada, Clare: Amazon.co.uk: Books

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The British Medical Association is the trade union and professional body for doctors in the UK.

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About our wellbeing services

Our wellbeing services include a range of free and confidential services and information to help support doctors and medical students:

- Confidential 24/7 counselling line, and peer support service for all doctors and medical students.

- BMA members, plus their partners and dependents (aged 16-24 in full-time education), can also access a free structured course of up to six sessions of therapy with a counsellor.

- A UK wellbeing support directory detailing various support services by geographical availability on our sources of support page.

The services are confidential and free of charge.

These are not emergency services. If you require urgent assistance, please contact your GP, or visit your local A&E department.

The BMA is committed to ensuring that our staff are treated with dignity and respect at work. While we understand that you may be under stress when you contact us, where staff do not feel they are being treated with respect they are empowered to end calls as a part of safeguarding staff wellbeing.

Counselling service

Our counselling service is provided through our accredited provider Health Assured. All counsellors are members of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and bound by strict codes of confidentiality.

When to use it

The counsellors are here to help you deal with a variety of issues, both personal and work-related.

By seeking constructive help, you may identify ways of addressing the root causes of your concerns and develop strategies to reduce the impact of the consequences.

How to use it

Contact us to speak to a counsellor

Online - visit the online portal and request support via the contact us form.

What will happen when I call?

Usually, a qualified counsellor will answer. On rare occasions when all counsellors are in another call, an advisor may answer instead.

If it's your first call, they'll ask for:

The name of the organisation through which you have contact to the service (i.e. BMA)

Your name and contact details - to correctly identify you if any further contact is required and to provide consistent support.

Your date of birth - the service is only available to those above the age of 16.

Your post code and organisation - in case you present as an immediate risk and the counsellor is required to alert the emergency services.

BMA members (or their partner/dependents) wishing to access a structured course of therapy (of up to six sessions) following a clinical assessment, will also need to provide an access code which can be found by logging into your BMA account (when logged in the code will be located at the top of this page).

If you've called before, they'll ask some security questions (e.g. your date of birth, or post code).

They'll ask you what your call relates to. This is to make sure you get the right support, as quickly as possible.

In the unlikely event that a counsellor is unavailable, they'll arrange a call back at a time that suits you.

The counselling service is confidential. All our counsellors are members of the BACP and are bound by strict codes of confidentiality.

How it works

The counsellors use a proactive approach to supporting you. They will provide you with space and time to talk about your concerns and provide guidance and mindfulness techniques that will help you in the present.

A few simple changes are often enough to make a world of difference. The counsellors may suggest useful resources that will help you make those changes - you may feel that is enough. At the end of the call, the counsellor will also explain the options available to you moving forward.

You can choose to simply call back if you would like to talk again or, if you're a BMA member and you would like to explore the option of structured counselling, the counsellor will offer to complete a clinical assessment with you.

Structured counselling

In addition to the 24/7 counselling line, BMA members can also access a free structured course of therapy with a counsellor.

If you decide structured counselling is for you, the counsellor will carry out a clinical assessment. This takes around 20 minutes and can also be completed at a time best for you.

Health Assured will take into consideration biological, psychological and social factors during the assessment. It allows the counsellor to explore your concerns with you, and identify goals for counselling.

A structured course of counselling consists of up to six sessions (50 minutes each) with the same counsellor by telephone or video call.

The counsellors use a 'solution-focussed' approach in therapy, which focusses on the here and now.

It was a life-saver for me. I know it's not an 'emergency service' but it was a crisis to me. And I was so grateful it is 24/7.

Peer support service

When to use it

Our service covers a variety of issues. The most common reason is for help dealing with difficult working relationships or work and study pressures.

You can speak in confidence to another doctor. This is peer support with an emotional focus.

Our peer support doctors provide a reflective space and work with you to gain insight into your problems.

This is not an emergency service. Should you require urgent assistance, please contact your GP, or visit your local A&E department.

How to use it

Contact us and ask to speak to a 'peer support' doctor.

Provide your name, contact number, address, date of birth, and job role.

You will be given the details of one of our doctors, who are experienced in supporting colleagues.

Text the peer support doctor on the number you've been given, to say you are contacting them for peer support and would like to arrange a time to speak.

You can then arrange ongoing conversations at mutually convenient times.

How it works

One call may be enough for you to discuss your issues. However, our peer support doctor will talk to you about whether further phone calls would be helpful.

The length of a call depends on your needs.

Although our doctors do not provide diagnoses or treatment, they can (if appropriate) signpost you to other sources of support.

Peer support doctors

Read first-hand accounts from some of our peer support doctors.

Peer support doctors Shake Seigel, Lailah Peel, Dick Symonds and Michael Dawson talk openly about how the service works, why someone might use it, and the ways in which they can help:

Listen to more interviews with our peer supporters

She understood because she has been there, in a way that people outside medicine could not comprehend.

Further information

For further information about our services, please call 020 7383 6110 or email [email protected]

Please note that this phone number and email address are only monitored 09:00-17:00, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays and 28 December).

However, the counselling line is available 24/7, 365 days of the year.

Feedback to us

We're continually evaluating the quality of the services we provide.

Please submit your feedback on the service you received. It should only take a couple of minutes.

You can choose to submit feedback anonymously should you wish to.
Submit feedback
Privacy notice

Our peer support service only collects data and personal information from you. Categories of data collected will include name, telephone number, ethnicity, specialty, geographical location, age, and gender. This data will be held for up to 20 years to ensure quality and consistency of service and in line with our legal requirements.

We do not disclose this information to any third parties unless legally obliged to.

In those rare cases where a doctor's health problem appears to pose a risk to their patients, the peer support doctor has a responsibility to prevent harm.

The peer support doctor will try to encourage the doctor to obtain appropriate help to change whatever presents a risk to patients. Failure on the doctor's part to comply will mean that the peer support doctor will have to take advice on how to act and this may be by contacting the GMC. However, we anticipate these occasions will be very rare and will only ever be undertaken as a means of last resort.

For further details see the BMA's privacy policy.

Our counselling service is provided in partnership with Health Assured. Please visit the Health Assured website for privacy policy and GDPR compliance statement.

Your interactions with the counselling and peer support services will not be linked to any BMA membership records.

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Counselling and peer support for doctors and medical students

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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.

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The British Medical Association is the trade union and professional body for doctors in the UK.

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Stop a minute. Are you worried you might be burning out?

Burnout can occur in a range of occupations, but frequently occurs in the caring professions.

Factors contributing to burnout include excessive workloads, patient pressures, lack of control, interference from managers, insecurity, reorganisation, poor support, front line practice, perceived threats of complaints or violence, and dysfunctional workplaces.

This confidential questionnaire can help you screen yourself for symptoms of burnout. It will help you identify feelings and experiences you have about your work, so that you can get a feel for whether you might be vulnerable to burnout.
Am I at risk of burnout?

Talk to someone

If you are a doctor or a medical student and want to talk to someone in confidence, call our free counselling service on 0330 123 1245. You don't have to be a member of the BMA to use the service 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Our peer support service runs alongside the counselling service and gives doctors and medical students in distress or difficulty the choice of speaking in confidence to another doctor.

Find out more

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Take our online survey to check yourself out.

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Civil work environments matter because they reduce errors, reduce stress and foster excellence.

Almost all excellence in healthcare is dependent on teams, and teams work best when all members feel safe and have a voice.
Civility between team members creates that sense of safety and is a key ingredient of great teams.
Incivility robs teams of their potential.

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Incivility has been shown to reduce team functioning, clinical decision making and patient outcomes.

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Civility in the workplace, including the clinical setting, is important. Civility improves patient outcomes. Civility Saves Lives

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Just as every wounded patient has inner health, every healer has an inner wound. If consciously known, the analyst's wound serves the healing process.

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Burnout in Healthcare - risk factors and solutions

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Burnout in Healthcare - risk factors and solutions

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Supporting Neurodivergent Doctors to Thrive at Work

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Supporting Neurodivergent Doctors to Thrive at Work