Help Me I'm a Doctor (doctorshelp.org.uk) brings together five independent charities offering confidential financial help to doctors in genuine need. You answer four quick questions, the site shortlists the charities whose rules fit you, and you then apply on each charity's own website. Working, retired and dependant family members of doctors can all use the site.
Key facts
- Who can use the site
- Doctors in genuine financial need, whether of working age or retired, and dependants of doctors
- What you get
- A shortlist of charities, then grants or loans decided by each charity under its own rules
- How to contact
- The questionnaire and email link on doctorshelp.org.uk. No phone number is published.
- Charities involved
- BMA Charities, The Cameron Fund, Royal Medical Benevolent Fund, Royal Medical Foundation, Society for the Assistance of Medical Families
- Charity number
- Not published. The site is a joint signposting tool, and each partner charity has its own registration.
What the Help Me I'm a Doctor site does
The site is a front door, not a fund. Five medical benevolent charities pool their entry point so a doctor in trouble does not have to work out which one to approach first. The site was produced with support from NHS England.
The process has three steps:
- Answer four short questions about your situation.
- Read the shortlist of charities whose criteria match your answers.
- Go to each shortlisted charity's own website and start the application there.
The partner charities describe their help as confidential financial assistance. Each fund sets its own eligibility rules, decides its own awards and chooses between a grant and a loan.
Problems the charities help with
The site groups requests into eight areas:
- Debts
- Selling assets
- House repairs
- Illness
- Car repairs
- Addiction
- A broken relationship
- Training costs
Many applicants also get specialist money advice. The site points doctors to a specialist money advice service, AdviceWorks, for help with repayments and priorities alongside any grant.
The five partner charities
- BMA Charities. A group of charities set up to help doctors and their families in times of need.
- The Cameron Fund. Focused on GPs and their dependants.
- Royal Medical Benevolent Fund. A UK charity for doctors, medical students and their families.
- Royal Medical Foundation. A medical benevolent charity listed by the BMA under financial support.
- Society for the Assistance of Medical Families. Also listed by the BMA under financial support.
The descriptions above come from the site and from the BMA's wellbeing directory. Check the current criteria on each charity's own website, because the rules differ from fund to fund.
A note on how current the site is
The site footer carries a 2017 copyright date, and the funding figure on the homepage refers to 2016. The partner list still matches the charities the BMA names today, but treat the questionnaire as a starting point. Before you rely on a shortlist, open each charity's website and confirm the fund is open and the rules still fit.
Who should look elsewhere
The site covers doctors and their families only. Other healthcare workers have their own funds and advice services:
- Pharmacists, trainee pharmacists and MPharm students: Pharmacist Support offers financial assistance plus debt and benefits advice.
- Nurses, midwives, healthcare assistants and nursing students who belong to the RCN: RCN member support includes a welfare service for benefits, debt and housing.
- Anyone in any role: Citizens Advice gives free debt and benefits advice.
Money trouble often sits beside stress, illness or a dispute at work. If you are struggling to cope, the BMA wellbeing support line takes calls from any doctor or medical student at any hour. For the wider picture, read money worries in healthcare work, and if a contract term is causing the debt, such as a training repayment clause, get employment advice as well.
Before you start the questionnaire
- Write down your monthly income, essential bills and every debt with the amount owed.
- Note what changed: illness, a relationship ending, a gap in work, a repair you cannot cover.
- Have your GMC number ready, and details of the doctor if you are applying as a dependant.
- Keep copies of letters from lenders, landlords or the council, since a charity will often ask for them.
If money worries leave you feeling hopeless or unsafe, call Samaritans free on 116 123 at any hour, or 999 in an emergency. See urgent support for more numbers.
Common questions
What is Help Me I'm a Doctor?
Help Me I'm a Doctor is a website joining up five independent charities which give financial help to doctors. You answer four questions and the site shortlists the charities most likely to help you.
Is Help Me I'm a Doctor a charity?
The site is a shared entry point rather than a fund. Applications and awards go through each partner charity, which has its own registration and rules.
Can a doctor's family apply?
Yes. The site says help is open to doctors of working age, retired doctors and dependants of doctors, subject to each fund's criteria.
Do the charities give grants or loans?
Both. Each charity decides the type and size of any award after you apply on its own website.
Is there a phone number?
No phone number is published on the site. Use the questionnaire or the email link, or contact a partner charity directly.