In this article on getting on with colleagues in the workplace we explore how the nurse-doctor relationship in psychiatry has evolved and discuss its current status in both the in-patient ward and community mental health teams. In particular, we outline the changed roles and expanding responsibilities of nurses in the UK today. We suggest ways in which doctors can improve the relationship and give areas of possible future collaboration between doctors and nurses.

Background: In the United Kingdom, specialist treatment and intervention services for doctors are underdeveloped. The MedNet programme, created in 1997 and funded by the London Deanery, aims to fill this gap by providing a self-referral, face-to-face, psychotherapeutic assessment service for doctors in London and South-East England. MedNet was designed to be a low-threshold service, targeting doctors without formal psychiatric problems. The aim of this study was to delineate the characteristics of doctors utilising the service, to describe their psychological morbidity, and to determine if early intervention is achieved.

SummaryI describe the needs for and impediments in provision of psychological support services for doctors. Morbidity and the resistance in the profession to addressing their own health needs are discussed. I also explore the principles of bespoke services for doctors, with particular emphasis on overcoming stigma and facilitating therapeutic engagement. I argue that triage is an inappropriate service model of care for doctors.

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