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We all know that doctors can become unwell, but this is still a surprise to some. Even more of a surprise is the difficulty doctors have in accessing decent healthcare. Stigma, shame, feelings of failure, overwork, pressure, and responsibility for others all play their part, along with our own tendency to find innovative ways of obtaining health care and the risks of inappropriately self-diagnosing, self-prescribing and even self-referring.

Health for Healthcare Professionals is a training programme delivered by the Royal College of General Practice (RCGP) following joint work with the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Faculty of Occupational Medicine and Association of National Health Occupational Physicians. The Department of Health provided funding for these organisations to work together to define what special skills doctors that care for other doctors need.

For those of us in DSN, who have been campaigning for better services for doctors with mental health problems for some time, the fact that “the great and the good” finally appear to realise that there is a problem is encouraging.

Specialist training for psychiatrists and occupational health doctors has also taken place but the GP training is the biggest endeavour, as it is aimed at the biggest audience – the more than 40,000 GPs currently working in the UK.

The Certificate in Practitioner Health (CPH) Part 1 is aimed at any doctor that has to look after doctors or other health professionals. It consists of 2 e-learning modules and a face-to-face training day. The e-learning modules are free. Although it is aimed at GPs the information and skills are generic and you do not need to be a GP to take the course.

The CPH part 2 is more involved but the aim is to create a nationwide network of GPs with a Special Interest in Practitioner Health. As yet there is no money to fund a national service, but as Clare Gerada said when she came to speak to those of us doing the part 2 training – “There is no money yet, but there is enthusiasm and passion. And when you get a group of passionate GPs out there things tend to happen.”

So why am I telling you all this:

Firstly as doctors who are also patients you have at least one, and possibly more, doctors involved in your care. They are already doing this important work – looking after you – but may not be aware of the resources available through this training to support them. You could let them know!

Secondly many of us are working despite our illness, and our experience of being a patient has made us more aware of the complexities of doctoring doctors. If only driven by the desire to be a better doctor to our patients than others have been to us this may be something we are interested in for our own personal development.

There is the will out there amongst the powerful to change things for sick doctors. Clare Gerada also spoke powerfully of our need to protect our own – calling for the death of a doctor by suicide to be as much of a “never event” as cutting off the wrong leg or injecting chemotherapy into the wrong place.

More information on HHP can be found at www.RCGP.org.uk search “HHP”