Responding to the planned ending of new registrations for secondary care doctors with NHS Practitioner Health, the mental health support service, Dr Latifa Patel, BMA workforce lead, said:

“NHS England’s withdrawal of funding from Practitioner Health is deeply concerning. Doctors are more burnt-out and under pressure than ever before and now is not the time to cut mental health support. With the recent cutting of NHS staff and wellbeing hubs, doctors already have fewer and fewer places to turn to. This is a short-sighted financial decision with potentially harmful consequences for both doctors and their patients.

“NHSE’s commitment at the weekend to ‘ensuring all NHS staff receive the mental health support they need’ is welcome but insufficient. We need to have assurances that its review of services will lead to equal or better provision of mental health support in the future. More urgently we call for a pause in the decision to end funding so doctors are not left without support while the review is carried out.”

Notes to editors

The BMA is a professional association and trade union representing and negotiating on behalf of all doctors in the UK. A leading voice advocating for outstanding health care and a healthy population. An association providing members with excellent individual services and support throughout their lives.