TY - JOUR T1 - Damaged doctors: it’s time for a binding covenant of care between the NHS and its doctors JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 174 LP - 175 DO - 10.3399/bjgp16X684445 VL - 66 IS - 645 AU - Dominic Patterson Y1 - 2016/04/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/66/645/174.abstract N2 - It is time at last for a binding covenant of care to be drawn up between the NHS and its doctors.In caring for patients in the environment of the NHS, doctors’ health is being damaged, and damaged doctors provide worse care for patients.1–3For too long the needs of doctors with mental illness or addiction have been neglected. Consequently and tragically, doctors continue to give up their lives for their vocation. The NHS must respond with the provision of universal, free, and standardised mental health and addiction support for all of its medical staff.Reviewing the literature surrounding the issue of physician health in the UK reveals a sad story of stuttering progress and lost momentum, represented as it is by far too many articles such as this, and far too little change in the real world. The many reviews highlighting the price doctors pay for their vocation in terms of poor mental health, addiction,4 and an increased rate of suicide5 have been infrequently punctuated by national reports and blueprints seeming to understand the problem, its impact on doctors and patients, as well as on the finances of the NHS.6 The Department of Health’s 2010 publication Invisible Patients, and its contributing reports, brought together evidence relating to doctors’ health, as well as offering a framework for support service development.2 It concluded that something had to be done, recommending improved care for doctors and recognising … ER -