Adam kay joins RCGP NI to call for doctors' mental health

Adam Kay, author of the multi-million copy bestseller 'This is Going to Hurt' and Patron of the charity Doctors in Distress, joins RCGP NI to call for life saving mental health services for doctors in Northern Ireland

BAFTA winning author of the bestselling memoir This Is Going to Hurt, Adam Kay, visited the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) NI offices in Belfast today (24 March) to promote the urgent need for commissioned mental health services for doctors in Northern Ireland.

During the visit, Adam met with Dr Emma Murtagh, Vice Chair of RCGP NI, and Dr Rose McCullagh, a Doctors in Distress Ambassador. Together, they highlighted the critical need for Northern Ireland to achieve parity with the rest of the UK and Ireland by establishing a commissioned practitioner health service here. 

Northern Ireland remains the only nation across the UK and Republic of Ireland without a dedicated, confidential and commissioned HSC mental health service for doctors and other healthcare professionals.

Elsewhere in the UK, practitioner health schemes provide free, confidential mental health and addiction support to doctors, a critical lifeline to those working under relentless pressure. Worryingly, statistics have shown that the risk of suicide among health professionals has been 24% higher than the national average. 

Speaking ahead of the event, Adam Kay said:  

“I hadn’t realised until a recent tour of Northern Ireland that there is no dedicated commissioned mental health service for NHS clinicians. I’m afraid to say that this is nothing short of shameful and needs to be urgently addressed. There is an ongoing crisis relating to burnout and suicide among NHS staff - a fact which is finally beginning to be addressed in England, Wales, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland through the provision of dedicated support services. I sincerely hope that Northern Ireland will follow suit, and give healthcare workers the support they desperately need.” 

In 2025, Doctors in Distress extended its charitable work to NI. Dr Emma Murtagh emphasised that, whilst very welcome, the launch of Doctors in Distress in NI in 2025 "does not fill the void left by the absence of a practitioner health service here." 

Dr Murtagh continued: "Doctors work under huge and often constant pressure. The stress of clinical work stays with you, not professionally, but also personally. 

Doctors in Northern Ireland are not immune, we are just as vulnerable to burnout, mental illness and addiction and the evidence shows that we are struggling even more than colleagues elsewhere in the UK.

Northern Ireland has the longest waiting lists and the highest levels of deprivation in the UK. We also have the highest prescribing rates of antidepressants, shaped by the legacy of a 30 year conflict, the trauma passed through generations, and the deep social and economic challenges that continue today.

Doctors are not immune to any of this. We live in the same communities, carry the same traumas, and then face the added moral distress of trying to care for patients in a system that is under relentless strain.”

When developing RCGP NI's report 'A Workforce Fit for the Future’, the RCGP NI team heard many reports of GPs suffering from mental ill health and burnout which led to them ‘quietly quitting’ General Practice long before retirement. 

The 2025 Workplace Experience report by the General Medical Council (GMC) showed that doctors in NI have significantly more negative workplace experiences than those in other parts of the UK. 

In NI, 26% of doctors are deemed to be at high risk of burnout, compared to an 18% UK average.

And 54% of NI doctors felt that it was difficult to provide the level of care a patient needed at least once per week, compared to the 40% corresponding UK average.

Further information

RCGP press office: 0203 188 7659
press@rcgp.org.uk

Notes to editors

The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of more than 54,000 family doctors working to improve care for patients. We work to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical practice and act as the voice of GPs on education, training, research and clinical standards.