Stressed GPs are promised national occupational health service

The NHS plans to launch a new national occupational health service from next April to support general practitioners experiencing burnout and stress.

A national service specification based on successful local programmes will form part of a wider, major new drive from NHS England to improve the health and wellbeing of NHS staff. The scheme will include serving healthier food, offering health checks in the workplace, and promoting physical activity among staff.

Launching the initiative at the NHS Innovation Expo conference in Manchester this week Simon Stevens, NHS England chief executive, said that it was time for the health service to “put its own house in order” by doing more to support the health of its staff.

Stevens acknowledged specifically that rising pressures on general practice were causing stress and burnout and said that he wanted to replicate successful local occupational health schemes such as the London NHS Practitioner Health Programme, to create “a national offering.” He said that NHS England would develop the national service specification from 1 April 2016, …