British Doctors & Dentists Group

The British Doctors’ and Dentists' Group, formed in 1973, is a mutual support society for doctors and dentists who are recovering, or wish to recover, from addiction to or dependency on alcohol or other drugs.

Membership is restricted to qualified medical and dental practitioners, and medical and dental students at the discretion of local secretaries, and normal medical ethics regarding confidentiality apply strictly within the group. There is absolutely no formality involved in joining us for a meeting - just contact the national secretary or a branch secretary (details below) with your e-mail address.  No records of your name or contact details are kept except by the local branch secretary who will never share them with anyone under any circumstances without your express permission.

There are over 1,000 members in the UK and local groups are located in:

• Aberdeen (Scotland)
• Altrincham (Greater Manchester)
• Belfast (Northern Ireland)
• Birmingham (West Midlands), Bristol (West of England)
• Chelmsford (Essex) www.bddgchelmsford.com
• Chester-le-Street (County Durham)
• Dublin (Eire)
• Edinburgh (Scotland)
• Glasgow (Scotland)
• London (largest meeting) www.bddg-london.org
• London (largest Families Group)
• Petersfield (Hampshire)
• Plymouth (Devon) deepsouth@bddg.org
• Pulborough (West Sussex)
• Sheffield (South Yorkshire)
• Swansea (Wales)
• Winchester (Hampshire)

Several groups have associated family meetings. Most groups have monthly meetings, and further information and advice can be obtained by contacting:

BDDG National Secretary
John P
Email: jpsecbddg@gmx.co.uk
Telephone: 0779 2819 966

BDDG Treasurer
Peter A
Email: bddgregistrar@gmail.com
Telephone: 07982 594 779

Medical Council on Alcohol
5 Saint Andrew's Place,
London,
Greater London NW1 4LB

Website: www.m-c-a.org.uk
Email: info@m-c-a.org.uk
Telephone: 020 7487 4445

A BDDG convention is held every October when in addition to our members we have many visitors from overseas (particularly the U.S.A.) as well as our family members.

Our 37th Annual Convention in October 2012 was in the ancient and beautiful city of York in the North of England.

BDDG is affiliated to IDAA - International Doctors in Alcoholics Anonymous. Further details can be found at www.idaa.org.

The BDDG also has family groups to support the loved ones of the sick doctor or dentist and they can be contacted via our National Secretary John at jpsecbddg@gmx.co.uk or on 077 9281 9966.

The Sick Doctors Trust can help doctors and dentists with completely confidential telephone contact and can also advise regarding the organisation of rehabilitation and treatment for doctors.  Have a look at their information leaflet on the information page. They  can be contacted 24/7 on 0370 444 5163.

ALL calls are treated with absolute confidentiality and no information or details will ever be passed to any third party unless at the request of the caller.

The Dentists' Health Support Programme may be contacted on 020 722 446 71.

Feedback as to links that fail to work and the value of the document list, or suggestions for additions, deletions or amendments will be welcomed by  webmaster@bddg.org.

If you think you may have a problem with alcohol or other addictive drugs, we know that you will be feeling isolated and alone. We know how you feel because we have been there. We also know the immense feeling of fellowship and sympathetic support we get when we can confidentially share our problems with others who have worked through those same problems, and have the same professional background as ourselves. At these meetings the burdens of secretiveness, guilt, shame, failure, addiction and dependency can be shared in complete confidentialty with experienced, sympathetic colleagues, and recovery can begin.

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