Use the Doctor support service
Are you going through a GMC investigation? Do you feel you would benefit from emotional support?
Initial access to the service is available Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm (excluding bank holidays), but calls with your allocated supporter may take place at mutually convenient times outside of these hours.
How to access the Doctor support service
If you need to speak to someone more urgently, you can access BMA counselling 24/7.
What is the Doctor support service?
All doctors who have been notified by the GMC about a provisional enquiry, an investigation, or licence withdrawal have access to this confidential, emotional support service from the BMA.
We recognise that being subject to a complaint or learning your licence is at risk can be uniquely and deeply stressful. We also understand that many doctors might not have anyone to confide in while they undergo a GMC investigation.
As a result, the GMC commission us to provide the Doctor support service, which offers emotional help from fellow doctors. It functions independently and confidentially from the GMC.
Who is the service aimed at?
You don't have to be a BMA member to get support.
Emotional support is available from the Doctor support service once you are notified by the GMC that a provisional enquiry or fitness to practise investigation is taking place. The support is available from when the GMC notify you until the outcome of the case. Doctors unable to talk with family or supportive colleagues may find the service particularly useful.
The Doctor support service is also available to doctors who are at risk of having their licence withdrawn. If you receive any communication from the GMC indicating that your licence to practise is at risk, you are welcome to use this service.
Thank you for providing this service. Speaking to a doctor colleague in confidence is crucial when going through GMC process. Not everyone can offer this unique perspective.”
How do I access the service?
Call our dedicated Doctor support service telephone line on 020 7383 6707 Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm (excluding bank holidays). Please note: you will not be able to access services outside of the Doctor support service on this phone number and will be signposted back to the contact options for membership or employment queries.
Initial access to the service begins with a brief call for us to take a few details and talk you through the service.
Following this call, a doctor supporter will be allocated to you and will contact you directly to organise a time to speak, and provide support.
You can also email [email protected].
What sort of support is available?
- Up to 6 hours of emotional support is available once you are notified by the GMC that a provisional enquiry or fitness to practise investigation is taking place, or that your licence to practise is at risk.
- This support is provided by phone or video call by a fellow doctor (doctor supporter) who is completely independent of the GMC.
- Calls usually take place during sociable hours, at mutually convenient times agreed between the doctor supporter and the doctor seeking support.
- Subject to availability of supporters, your supporter can also accompany you (in-person or virtually) if you are invited to a meeting with the GMC or if your case ends up at a hearing (for up to 2 days of the hearing).
- After a case has closed, you can talk to your supporter about how you feel about the outcome.
- The support service is completely independent of the GMC.
The dedicated telephone line is open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays), but calls with your allocated supporter may take place at mutually convenient times outside of these hours.
If you need to speak to someone more urgently, you can access BMA counselling 24/7 on 0330 123 1245.
The BMA is committed to ensuring that our staff are treated with dignity and respect at work. While we understand that you may be under stress when you contact us, where staff do not feel they are being treated with respect they are empowered to end calls as a part of safeguarding staff wellbeing.
It has been a huge relief to be able to share my professional worries with an impartial doctor colleague / listening ear i.e. not my GP, not any medics friends or colleagues. I feel as if a weight has been lifted and now I can proceed with what I need to do.”
Will the supporter help me with my case?
The supporter will be able to talk to you about how you feel about the situation and help you to find strategies to cope with the stress of the proceedings.
You can ask the supporter to come with you if you are required to attend a fitness to practise hearing.
The supporter is not able to offer legal advice, advocacy, or any guidance about your case. You should speak to your defence organisation or legal representative in this instance.
If you want help with understanding the GMC's fitness to practise procedures, you can contact the investigation officer who is handling your case.
Being able to speak openly with a colleague who kept a flicker of light alive when all others were going out got me through an immensely testing time.”
Privacy notice
Our Doctor support service only collects data and personal information from you. Categories of data collected will include name, telephone number, email address, ethnicity, specialty, location of work, age, gender. This data will be held for up to 20 years to ensure quality and consistency of service and in line with our legal requirements.
We do not disclose this information to any third parties unless legally obliged to.
In those rare cases where a doctor's health problem appears to pose a risk to their patients, the doctor supporter has a responsibility to prevent harm. The doctor supporter will try to encourage the doctor to obtain appropriate help to change whatever presents a risk to patients. Failure on the doctor's part to comply will mean that the doctor supporter will have to take advice on how to act and this may be by contacting the GMC. However, we anticipate these occasions will be very rare and will only ever be undertaken as a means of last resort.