This site is intended for health professionals only


Pulse ‘instrumental’ in successful campaign to secure GP mental health support

Pulse’s Battling Burnout campaign was ‘instrumental’ in raising the profile of workplace stress and helping secure major investment, former RCGP chair and GP mental health champion Professor Clare Gerada has said.

The campaign claimed a landmark victory today when NHS England announced it would invest £16m in a comprehensive, confidential national pastoral support service as part of its General Practice Forward View.

The funding, in addition to the £3.5m already announced for a national occupational health service, will be used to roll out a service modelled on the London Practitioner Health Programme, where Professor Gerada is medical director.

Speaking after the launch of the report, Professor Gerada said: ‘Can I congratulate Pulse, they have been instrumental in the burnout issue. A lot of us have been pushing for this, but having a major GP newspaper is very good.

‘It’s exceptionally good news, as long as it’s delivered.’

She added that the scheme should ensure it worked to stop GPs reaching the point of burnout, and said: ‘I have a conflict because I want to deliver it, and I have ideas for how it should be delivered. It can’t just be treatment this has to be prevention.’

The Battling Burnout campaign has lobbied ministers and NHS England to fund psychological support services nationally, unearthed the startlingly high risk of burnout in the profession, and documented gold-standard mental health services closing after 25 years.


          

Visit Pulse Reference for details on 140 symptoms, including easily searchable symptoms and categories, offering you a free platform to check symptoms and receive potential diagnoses during consultations.