About Us

Welcome to Doctors' Health NT

Doctors' Health NT has been developed in recognition of the many barriers which stop doctors sourcing independent health care for themselves, the uncertainty around helping unwell colleagues and the value in doctors and students having their own GP of choice. 

Doctors' Health NT aims to provide clearer ways for doctors and medical students in the Northern Territory to seek health care for themselves, and to provide assistance if they are uncertain where to start. The program supports the following value propositions:

1. Patients need and deserve to be treated by a doctor who is well.
2. Healthy doctors practise better medicine.
3. Doctors and students will be healthier if they have their own GP.
4. A list of locally trained GPs is available on this website for medical practitioners and medical students only.
5. Our own health is a professional responsibility.
6. A choice of ways to seek help is needed to overcome the multiple barriers which currently exist.
7. A sustainable program must meet the needs of doctors and emphasise access and equity, safety and quality.

This program allows NT doctors and medical students to also access the clinical, education, training and phone advisory services.

The doctors' health programs in the NT and SA emphasise the significant health benefits of having a GP in the community and aims to continue to grow a network of experienced GPs in private practice to undertake additional training in treating doctors and students and from which then doctors and students can access a GP for their ongoing primary care.

We offer accredited continuing professional development designed to enhance the skills of those GPs assessing and managing the health of doctors.

We deliver educational packages to medical and practice groups each year to raise awareness of the service and the need for all doctors to have their own personal doctor of choice.

We offer our confidential and anonymous 24-hour doctors’ advisory service for a doctor, student, colleague, employer or family member to discuss any issue of concern with one of our panel of experienced GPs.

We are innovating through grants in remote education and telemedicine consultations for rural GPs. 

All the doctors in our network are experienced and caring General Practitioners who have a keen interest in doctors’ health and undertake accredited training in doctors’ health and the importance of professionalism and confidentiality.

The end goal of DHNT activities is to make sure that doctors and students enjoy all of the benefits of on-going prevention, check-ups and GP care that includes providing access to the wider health system.

The DHNT program is designed to:

1. reduce the barriers to doctors and students needing medical advice
2. improve the health of doctors and medical students
3. provide easier access to a doctor for those who do not currently have a GP
4. offer a coordinated suite of activities which facilitate this
5. promote choice, privacy, confidentiality and professionalism
6. innovate to find solutions 

History

Doctors' Health Services have gradually been developed across Australia for the past 20 years. The Northern Territory engaged the Doctors' Health SA service in 2016 to assist the NT to build a locally tailored service for all doctors and medical students.

It grew from the recognition that doctors face unique barriers to seeking care, and that a more thoughtful, profession-specific response was needed. Since then, the service has continued to grow and adapt, helping doctors and medical students access confidential care in ways that are practical, respectful and easier to trust.

That same thinking continues to guide the service today.

Our approach to ongoing care

We strongly believe in the health benefits of having your own GP.

Our role is often to be a safe starting point: a place to seek confidential advice, urgent support, an after-hours appointment, or a first step back into care. From there, we help doctors and medical students build or strengthen ongoing relationships with a GP in the community wherever possible.

That matters for prevention, continuity of care and long-term wellbeing.