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Richard Hetzel visits the UK and Germany |
DHASs in Europe
Dr Richard Hetzel is an Adelaide GP with a special interest in doctors' health. He serves on the executive of the SA Doctors' Health Advisory Service and is a member of the Australasian Doctors' Health Interest Group. He was a key figure behind the setting up of a working party in SA in late 2006 (involving the AMA, the DHAS, the Post Graduate Medical Council and Divisions of General Practice) to consider establishing a Doctors' Health Clinic. He reports on his visit in October 2006 to doctors’ health organisations in Germany, Holland and the UK.
There was considerable interest in hearing about doctors' health work in Australia and about our upcoming international conference in Sydney in October this year. http://www.doctorshealthsydney2007.org
In Berlin, I met three physicians centrally involved in doctors’ health in Germany. Dr Kunstmann is responsible for providing doctors’ health support on behalf of the German Medical Association, Dr Buhren co-ordinates the care of addicted doctors for the German Medical Board and Dr Beelman runs a program in Hamburg for doctors with drug and alcohol addiction.
(L to R) Drs Kunstmann, Buhren, Beelman and Hetzel
After meeting this group, I attended the European Panel for Addiction in the Medical Profession. Papers ranged from a survey of German psychiatrists’ health and illness behaviour to the performance of a doctors’ health clinic in Barcelona, Spain.
In Holland, I learnt about a successful on-line doctors' health program, run by Dr Arno van Rooijen, which results in three hundred follow-up referrals annually.
In England I met Dr Chris Williams and his Doctors Support Line team. mailto:http://www.doctorssupportline.org/ Their phone counselling service is well used, but, following the public reaction to Dr Shipman, they face many new issues regarding the support of impaired doctors.
Dr Mike Peters and Ben Arrowsmith run the Doctors for Doctors programme for the BMA. http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/content/Hubhealthandwellbeing
They are very busy providing courses for doctors in various parts of the UK. It is expected that they will organise an international doctors’ health conference in London in 2008.
(L to R) Drs Hetzel, Peters and Arrowsmith
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