Overview

It is just over 20 years since the Daksha Emson report was published. Daksha was a trainee psychiatrist who had a history of bipolar disorder. In 2020, she gave birth and within a short time, developed puerperal (postpartum) psychosis which resulted in her committing infanticide and subsequently taking her own life. The independent inquiry that was set up after her death found a number of failings and made a number of recommendations. These recommendations led to the setting up of the Practitioner Health Programme, now Practitioner Health in England. Scotland has developed its own approach. This session will include presentations from Professor Dame Clare Gerada, who set up Practitioner Health and is recent past President of the Royal College of General Practitioners, Dr Alastair Cook, Principal Officer of Mental Health in the Scottish Government and who developed the Scottish approach and Dr Richard Caplan, specialist advisor and leader of the Psychiatrists' Support Service which was set up by the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 2008. The speakers will present their various approaches in the context of the Daksha Emson report findings and ask the question what has changed since its publication and what more still needs to be done to make sure that doctors receive appropriate and responsive health care when required.

• Whether the recommendations of the Daksha Emson report have been achieved
• What services are available to doctors when they become unwell
• What should these services look like?
• What more should be done to help doctors when they become unwell?