Crazy Socks 4 Docs was the brainchild of gentleman and talented Clinician and Cardiologist, Dr Geoffrey Toogood.

As the name suggests, wearing your most outrageous socks on this annual day is encouraged, to prompt discussions around mental health in the healthcare industry as a whole.

The stoic nature of Clinicians is well known, too often they feel the intense burden of their perceived and actual expectations of them to be superhuman, when the irony is we need them to be at their healthiest to care for the general public.

At Blugibbon Medical Recruitment, we always practice being human first, and you when we let down our barriers, we find it incredible how much Clinicians share with us about reality beyond that shiny professional facade of being a Doctor or Nurse.

A large part of our business is locum doctors, and their sometimes uncertain career, while rewarding, can be challenging, so we at Blugibbon did two big things this week:

(1) We drafted and released our Blugibbon Mental Wellbeing & Support Pathway Policy that arms us with better tools, resources and approaches to signs of mental strain - this applies to both internal employees and external locums, contractors and any other person we happen to deal with in our daily work as a medical recruitment agency.

(2) We collated some services and movements that specifically Clinicians can reach out to for more mental health support if needed.

Here are our top picks below - send us an email at hello@blugibbon.com or comment on our social platforms if you know of any other worthy services we can add to the list:

Doctors' Health Advisory Service / Australian Doctors Health Network (ADHN) - http://www.dhas.org.au/ or http://www.adhn.org.au/

“ADHN was established as an independent network of doctors' health services across Australia and New Zealand in the early 1990s. This site provides news and resources for promoting doctors' health, for helping your colleagues and for your own self-care, which is an essential prerequisite for competent medical practice”.

DRS4DRS - https://www.drs4drs.com.au/

https://www.drs4drs.com.au/

“DRS4DRS has been developed by the medical profession for the medical profession. Through our network of doctors’ health advisory and referral services, we offer an independent, safe, supportive and confidential service. We’re here to help you find the support you need – online resources, referral services and importantly for wellbeing, we’ll help you find a GP.”

Nurses & Midwives Health members Mental Wellness program - https://www.nmhealth.com.au/members/teachers-healthcare-services/mental-health-support/



“Experiencing depression or anxiety (or both) can be isolating. We’re committed to helping eligible Nurses & Midwives Health members* get the support they need. One of the ways we do this is through our Mental Wellness program. It might be right for you if you have distressing symptoms, but haven’t reached out to your GP or a mental health professional or you’ve been diagnosed with depression and/or anxiety but aren’t coping and would like extra support”.

Nurse & Midwife Support - https://www.nmsupport.org.au/

“Nurse & Midwife Support is here for all nurses and midwives, nursing and midwifery students, employers, educators and concerned family and friends. We provide confidential advice and referral, promote better health for nurses, midwives and students, and safer care for the public”.

Crazy Socks 4 Docs - https://www.crazysocks4docs.com.au/

“The Crazysocks4docs movement came out of the responses that the founder Dr Geoff Toogood experienced when he happened to wear odd coloured socks to work. The talk behind his back was that he was failing again. In reality he was well, and his socks (apart from the last two odd socks that he was wearing that day) had all been eaten by his new puppy.

Rather than start a discussion about whether he was ok, there was whispering behind the scenes. As a result of this experience, Geoff established Crazysocks4docs Day as an attempt to address the stigma around mental health in doctors, and to make it ok for a Doctor not to be ok”.

For more information on any of the above or if you need a friendly voice for a chat about all things healthcare and life, get in touch with Blugibbon Medical Recruitment today on hello@blugibbon.com or 02 8960 6445.