History of DSN
The history of the Doctors' Support Network
DSN founded in 1996
The Doctors' Support Network was founded in 1996. Dr. Liz Miller was a registrar in neurosurgery when she first became unwell with bipolar disorder. While unwell, she saw an advert from General Practitioner (GP) Dr. Soames Michelson in the British Medical Journal asking if any other doctors had mental health problems. The initial group of thirty doctors then formed the Doctors' Support Network. Early activities included local meetings and a regular newsletter.
The initial response from the medical profession to DSN was not encouraging: Liz said ' We went to see the British Medical Association, the General Medical Council [GMC], and the Royal College of Psychiatrists. We thought, 'This will be a good thing.' And the universal answer from all of these sources was, 'Doctors don't have mental health problems. Good luck to you. You need it.'
Doctors' Support Line
In 2002, DSN collaborated with Dr. Chris Manning of Primhe in setting up the Doctors' Support Line (DSL), which was at that time, the only telephone support service for doctors with mental health concerns. DSL was started with an initial three year grant of £120,000 from the Department of Health and also received financial support from the Mental Health Helpline Partnership, the Welsh Assembly and individual donations.
DSL facilitated volunteer doctors, with their own experience of mental health problems, answering calls from distressed doctors. The Support Line ran for thirteen years, latterly managed by DSN without any external funding, until it closed in 2015. Financial pressures were a factor in the closure as well as recent provision by other bodies of specialist telephone support for distressed doctors.
Doctors as Patients
book publication
In 2005, DSN co-ordinated the publication of a book about the experiences of doctors with mental health problems - Doctors as Patients.
Dr. Alison Holt, who worked on this project, explains 'Doctors as Patients
was a collaborative work born out of the DSN internet fora. The late and much missed Petre Jones had already published a number of textbooks and so had links at Radcliffe. But he did not want to write the book, he wanted us to write it. The request went out for contributions and as these came in the shape of the book became clear.
Dr. Petre Jones
Petre 'held the ring' through artistic differences, formatting problems and deadline challenges. What we hoped to produce was two-fold. A distillation of the wisdom held by those with lived experience which could be useful to those who were unwell but also a cry from invisibility; that there were such things as unwell doctors and to be one was not shameful.
We had never intended the book to be a resource for those researching in the area of practitioner health as at the time no one was. The fact it has fulfilled this final role is one that brings me great joy. The world is changing for those of us that become unwell, and for the better.'
In 2005, DSN also created the very first version of this website!
MIND champion 2008
Dr. Liz Miller was subsequently voted MIND champion in 2008. The photo shows Liz receiving her award from Melvyn Bragg.
Liz said 'I’m very touched to receive the award. It’s really important that we change attitudes about mental health, and a good starting point is changing attitudes within the medical profession.'
DSN and the Practitioner Health Programme
Another game changing innovation in doctors’ health was the establishment of the Practitioner Health Programme (PHP). Our current co-chair, Dr. Angelika Luehrs, was a member of the working party involved in developing the PHP.
Angelika relates ‘The proposal for the PHP was in response to the Chief Medical Officer's review of medical regulation in July 2006 set out in the White Paper Good Doctors, Safer Patients July 2006. The PHP proposal was a key aspect of the 'Health for Health Professionals' work stream of the White Paper. The National Clinical Assessment Service (NCAS) was asked by the Department of Health to oversee the commissioning and implementing of the PHP. An expert working group had been set up on behalf of the Royal College of Psychiatry and the London deanery and was assisted by NCAS to develop proposals for a PHP between 2006 and 2007. The PHP was officially launched during the 'Doctors' Health Matters' conference in November 2008 and immediately started its clinical work.
I (representing DSN) approached Dr Rosemary Field, deputy director of NCAS in 2009 to discuss the PHP and offer our input considering that DSN would be able to provide valuable experience from doctors with mental health problems. This was felt to be very valuable and I joined the PHP Stakeholder Advisory Group representing DSN. DSN was also involved in the Health for Health Professionals Group working on the Health for Health Professionals Competency Framework. PHP is now an award winning service. Dr. Clare Gerada, PHP’s founding medical director has ceaselessly campaigned for doctors with mental health problems. It has been an honour to work with her as part of the above working parties.’
In 2010, DSN was delighted when Dr. Phil Hammond agreed to become our patron. Phil is a doctor, journalist, broadcaster, campaigner and comedian. He qualified as a GP in 1991 and currently works in a specialist NHS centre for children and adolescents with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME).
The General Medical Council has said of Phil 'A comedian trapped in a doctor’s body.’
Where we go after DSL closure
DSN conducted a member survey around closing the DSL service in 2015 and identified that the organisation still had an important remit regarding doctors' health issues. We identified that our major roles are providing a safe place for peer support from other DSN doctors and members as well as campaigning to improve the way in which doctors with mental health issues are treated by employers.
DSN exists to provide support to each other in times of need. We have been a charity - registered with the Charity Commission of England and Wales - since 2004. Our organisation type has recently changed to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) with a new registration number 1196277 (previously charity no. 1103741). The old charity No. 1103741 was closed on 30th May 2024 and has subsequently been added to the Charity Commission's register of merged charities.
Find out how to DONATE to the charity here
If you would like to get involved with DSN, please use the Contact DSN form.
