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Case/Article Review 22
You have two minutes to read the enclosed article, and you will subsequently be asked a range of questions by the interviewer. You may wish to make notes, however please note you will not be allowed to refer to your notes or the article during the discussion.
Patients rely on doctors to look after their mental health but is enough being done to help the doctors when they are the ones with problems? There are concerns that some medical professionals in England are unable to get the help they need. In 2017, 26-year-old junior doctor Sophie Spooner suffered a panic attack while working on a paediatrics ward. Twenty-four hours later, she had taken her own life. Her mother, Dr Laurel Spooner, believes her suicide was the result of depression which she had struggled with in the past. She had previously been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder. "She was looking for a mental health service that would have understood her mental health problem in the context of being a doctor," Dr Laurel Spooner told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme: "If she could have seen somebody… and had the right medication, I expect she would still be here."
Figures from the Office for National Statistics, covering England, showed that between 2011 and 2015, 430 health professionals took their own lives.
The NHS Practitioner Health Programme (PHP), is the only confidential service that offers doctors a range of assessments, treatment and case-management for all mental health problems. But doctors can only self-refer to the PHP, without the need to tell their Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), if they work in London. Others can access the service, but in telling their CCG they consequently lose their anonymity. In texts to her mother before she died, Sophie Spooner said she feared she would be sent into hospital if she revealed her mental health issues and her colleagues would find out. She also expressed her anger at not being able to access the PHP confidentially because she worked outside London.
(Adapted from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45356349)
Outline the main issues raised.
Patients rely on doctors to look after their mental health but is enough being done to help the doctors when they are the ones with problems? There are concerns that some medical professionals in England are unable to get the help they need. In 2017, 26-year-old junior doctor Sophie Spooner suffered a panic attack while working on a paediatrics ward. Twenty-four hours later, she had taken her own life. Her mother, Dr Laurel Spooner, believes her suicide was the result of depression which she had struggled with in the past. She had previously been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder. "She was looking for a mental health service that would have understood her mental health problem in the context of being a doctor," Dr Laurel Spooner told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme: "If she could have seen somebody… and had the right medication, I expect she would still be here."
Figures from the Office for National Statistics, covering England, showed that between 2011 and 2015, 430 health professionals took their own lives.
The NHS Practitioner Health Programme (PHP), is the only confidential service that offers doctors a range of assessments, treatment and case-management for all mental health problems. But doctors can only self-refer to the PHP, without the need to tell their Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), if they work in London. Others can access the service, but in telling their CCG they consequently lose their anonymity. In texts to her mother before she died, Sophie Spooner said she feared she would be sent into hospital if she revealed her mental health issues and her colleagues would find out. She also expressed her anger at not being able to access the PHP confidentially because she worked outside London.
(Adapted from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45356349)
Outline the main issues raised.