We are proud to have formed a partnership with Acute and General Medicine for this year’s event. 

This alliance sends a vital message to healthcare professionals that wellbeing in the health sector is being prioritised and that mental health matters. 

Doctors in Distress is a medical mental health charity, which provides peer support for all UK based healthcare workers to promote and protect their mental health and prevent suicide.  

We are excited to play a key role in this year’s Acute and General Medicine event. Two of our Trustees will be giving talks around the topics of bullying and harassment, and wellbeing and resilience. 

Dr Ananta Dave is the medical director of the Black Country Integrated Care Board and Dr Ali is a highly accomplished plastic surgeon with 16 years of surgical experience in Germany, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. As well as being engaging and eloquent speakers, they both have a commitment and passion for the work of Doctors in Distress. 

Our charity was set up in 2019 by Amandip Sidhu following the suicide of his brother Dr Jagdip Sidhu, a consultant cardiologist. 

Our aim is to reduce the stigma around mental health in the health sector. We want to drive a positive wellbeing support culture for healthcare workers and promote a duty of care by employers for the mental health of their staff.  

The 2023 NHS Staff Survey results released earlier this year revealed that almost a third of staff feel burnt out because of their work and less than half claim they can meet all the conflicting demands on their time at work.  

Although there has been an increase in the percentage of workers who feel that their organisation takes positive action on health and wellbeing, there is still much more to do.  

Shockingly, one doctor takes their life every three weeks, and one nurse takes their own life every week. These are distressing statistics and are the key driver of our work to protect mental health and prevent suicide.  

We provide initiatives to support the wellbeing of all health workers through our range of free programmes. These vary from, drop-in sessions and creative classes, to webinars where a health professional shares their mental health experience. 

Of course, we couldn’t run these programmes without the support of our fundraisers and generous donations. Next month, we are launching our annual 5K in May fundraiser, and all the money raised will go towards supporting NHS staff’s wellbeing. 

Please consider supporting our work by clicking on the QR code below. Thank you.  

For more information on our programmes or fundraising campaigns, visit our website Home - Doctors in Distress - Support For Healthcare Workers (doctors-in-distress.org.uk)