The Scottish Government’s Health Secretary, Jeane Freeman OBE MSP, has united with Glasgow-based medical indemnity provider MDDUS (the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland) on Time to Talk Day to support a project aimed at promoting wellbeing for medical professionals.

‘Tools of the Trade’ is a book of poetry developed in partnership between MDDUS, RCGP Scotland and the Scottish Poetry Library, and is given to every new doctor graduating in Scotland. Featuring the works of much-lauded poets including Michael Rosen and Kathleen Jamie, ‘Tools of the Trade’ is designed to support GP wellbeing and to offer medical professionals the opportunity to reflect on how they are caring for themselves, as well as the medical attention they are providing to their patients.

The Health Secretary’s support for the Tools of the Trade project comes at a time when a recent British Medical Association report found that nearly 9 out of 10 GP partners are at high or very high risk of burnout, and statistics from NHS Digital have shown that NHS staff sickness absence is on the rise, with the most common reasons being anxiety, stress and depression.

Commenting on the Tools of the Trade initiative, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman OBE MSP said: “I am not a doctor and I don’t have to face the tough decisions or dilemmas clinicians face every day, but ‘Tools of the Trade’ is a beautiful, thought provoking collection of poems to sustain and strengthen.”