Healthcare professionals deserve support services tailored to their specific needs

“If you build it, they will come” is not only a quote from the 1989 film Field of Dreams, but also the words used by my predecessor Clare Gerada to describe the success of NHS Practitioner Health (NHSPH) since its inception in 2008. The value it holds for healthcare staff was highlighted recently when NHS England announced its decision to end funding for new referrals to the service from secondary care staff. The ensuing outcry from healthcare staff prompted NHS England to rapidly reverse its decision.1 The journey the service has been on, and the number of people who’ve accessed it, speak to both the challenges of working in healthcare and a workforce that increasingly needs support with its mental health.The Practitioner Health Programme, as it was then, was first set up as a mental health treatment pilot for doctors and dentists. At the time, the original staff of three…
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