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GMC training survey shows improvement but persistent variation
General Medical CouncilRCOG refreshes support resources for doctors
Royal College of Obstetricians and GynaecologistsRCP publishes SAS priorities for 2026–30
Royal College of PhysiciansRCEM condemns rising violence and discrimination against NHS staff
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Health support, occupational health and crisis help
Understand what different health and wellbeing services provide, their confidentiality limits and when urgent help is required.
Use emergency services for immediate danger, a GP or urgent local service for clinical assessment, occupational health for work-function advice, and eligible specialist or peer services for confidential support. Ask every service about eligibility, records and confidentiality before assuming what it can provide.
By the end of this module, you should be able to:
- Match urgency and need to the correct service.
- Understand occupational-health boundaries.
- Use four-nation doctors' support routes safely.
Urgent help now
If you or another person is in immediate danger, call 999 or attend the nearest Emergency Department. For urgent mental-health help that is not an immediate life-threatening emergency, use the current NHS urgent route for your nation, your GP or local crisis service. Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 for confidential emotional support across the UK, but it is not a substitute for emergency clinical care.
Do not leave a person alone where there is credible immediate risk. Remove access to immediate means where it is safe to do so, arrange clinical help and share the minimum necessary information. A website tool cannot assess individual suicide risk.
GP and treatment services
Doctors need their own GP and should avoid informal self-treatment or corridor consultations for significant illness. A GP can assess physical and mental health, prescribe or refer, issue fit notes and coordinate care. Emergency, urgent, community and secondary-care routes remain available according to clinical need.
Seeking treatment does not automatically imply impaired fitness to practise. Professional responsibility includes obtaining appropriate care and considering whether health affects safe work. Discuss any necessary work restrictions with treating clinicians and occupational health.
Occupational health
Occupational health advises on the relationship between health and work: functional effects, safety, adjustments, rehabilitation and return. It is usually not the main treating service and does not make the employer's final management decision. Ask what the referral question is, what report will be produced and whether you can see it under the applicable arrangements.
A useful referral addresses specific functions and barriers. Provide relevant clinical information, but do not assume the manager needs a full diagnosis or history. Clarify consent and the limits that apply if serious safety concerns emerge.
Doctor-specific confidential support
The BMA currently offers a 24-hour counselling and peer-support line for all doctors and medical students, not only members, while structured therapy has separate eligibility. It is not an emergency or employment-advice line. NHS Practitioner Health supports eligible health and care staff in England who cannot access confidential care locally. Canopi currently offers confidential mental-health support to eligible NHS and social-care staff in Wales and is separate from the employer.
Scotland's National Wellbeing Hub signposts the Workforce Specialist Service; Northern Ireland's Regional Workforce Wellbeing Network and individual HSC employers provide local support. Eligibility and funding can change, so use the dated support finder and open the provider's current page before relying on a service.
What wellbeing support does not do
Counselling and peer support provide emotional help, reflection and coping strategies. They do not normally investigate bullying, interpret a contract, represent a doctor, provide legal advice or decide whether a regulator must be notified. Canopi explicitly states that it does not provide legal advice, complaints handling, mediation or advocacy.
Use parallel routes where needed. A doctor may require therapy, union representation, a safety report and practical family support at the same time. Tell each service enough about the wider picture to avoid conflicting advice, while controlling unnecessary disclosure.
Questions to ask about confidentiality
Ask: what personal information is collected; where it is stored; who can access it; whether it appears in an NHS clinical record or employment file; how long it is retained; what is shared with funders; and which risks or legal duties limit confidentiality. Independent does not necessarily mean anonymous, and confidential does not mean no information is recorded.
The BMA describes rare circumstances in which serious risk may require its peer-support service to take further steps. Canopi explains that it does not contribute to the person's NHS medical record. These are different models. Read the current privacy information rather than relying on assumptions.
Worked example: parallel support
A doctor develops panic and insomnia while a grievance is underway. Their GP assesses and treats the health problem. Occupational health advises on temporary duties and review. A counselling service provides emotional support. The union advises on the grievance and meeting. The SAS Advocate helps the doctor understand local contacts and notices a wider theme affecting other SAS doctors without taking over the case.
The doctor gives each service information relevant to its role and asks about records and sharing. This coordinated approach prevents a counsellor being expected to interpret the contract or HR being used as a clinical service.
Prepare for a support call
Write your current location, whether you are safe, the main difficulty, what help you need today, current clinical support, medication or substance concerns where relevant, upcoming work, people available to you and any communication or accessibility needs.
If the service cannot meet the need, ask where it recommends you go next and what to do if risk worsens. Eligibility and opening hours should be checked on the provider's current page.
Which three contacts would you use for immediate danger, clinical treatment and employment support respectively?
Keep in mind
Three takeaways
- 1Urgency determines the first route.
- 2Occupational health focuses on health in relation to work.
- 3Check eligibility, records and confidentiality for every service.
Knowledge check
Check your understanding
Six questions on Health support, occupational health and crisis help test process and practical judgement. This is educational: it does not assess your health, evidence sufficiency or decide a legal issue.
Question 1 of 6
Choose one answer to continue.
Recommended workbooks
Use these privately and remove identifiable clinical information.
Check the source
Page last reviewed 7 September 2026. General educational guidance, not an individual clinical, employment or legal assessment.Official and professional guidance
Open the current source and note the jurisdiction before applying it.