Supporting the needs of health professionals

It is important to remember that health professionals themselves can find treating torture survivors stressful. Health professionals need to realise the emotional demands of treating torture survivors and that they should look for support if necessary.  Managers should take care that staff who deal with the victims of torture are supported and prepared for the particular demands of the work.

• The Student BMJ includes advice to doctors about what they can do and how they can cope.

• Help is At Hand – Coping with Bereavement This guide is aimed at the wide range of people who are affected by suicide or other sudden, traumatic death. It aims to help people who are unexpectedly bereaved in this way. It also provides information for healthcare and other professionals who come into contact with bereaved people, to assist them in providing help and to suggest how they themselves may find support if they need it.

Professional networks that can help include:

• The Medical Foundation for the Victims of Torture staff run training sessions and workshops for professional groups working with refugees and survivors of torture and can discuss issues with health care workers and publish information for people to get involved and network

• In some local areas health care professionals gain support and guidance from each other continuously 

• The UK Trauma Group is a managed clinical network of UK Traumatic Stress Services.

• The European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies is the European network that promotes networking between individuals and organisations within the field of psychotraumatology

The developing understanding and awareness of refugee experiences area of this website gives more information about subscribing to  health care professionals’ networks.