British Doctors & Dentists Group

Updated 2nd May 2012                                                 Clicking on the "Information" 
 tab above will bring up a list of articles and links which you may well find
useful or interesting.             

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 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), Pulborough (West Sussex),

Sheffield (South Yorkshire), Swansea (Wales), and Winchester (Hampshire).

Several groups have associated family meetings.

Most have monthly meetings, and further information and advice can be obtained by
contacting the BDDG National Secretary, John,
at  jpsecbddg@gmx.co.ukor on 0779 2819 966

or the BDDG Registrar, Peter, at bddgregistrar@gmail.com or on 07982 594 779

or through the Medical Council on Alcohol on 020 7487 4445

The first mainland Europe meeting of which we are aware, and which is similar to BDDG, has been started in the Netherlands by a previous BDDG member.  Follow the 'Netherlands' link on the 'Information' page.

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 will be from 3rd to 7th October 2012
 
in the ancient and beautiful city of York in the North of England.
Further details regarding bookings will be available in due course.

BDDG is affiliated to IDAA - International Doctors in Alcoholics Anonymous.
Their Annual Meeting for 2012 is in Orlando, Florida from August 1st to 5th
Further details 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 the BDDG Families website.

The Sick Doctors Trust can help with completely confidential telephone contact and can also advise regarding the organisation of rehabilitation and treatment. 
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 the value of the document list, or suggestions for additions, deletions or amendments will be welcomed by Roger Anderson at  bddg@chagford.waitrose.com

If you think you have a problem with alcohol or drugs, we know that you will be feeling totally 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 addiction and dependency can be shared with experienced, sympathetic colleagues, and recovery can begin.

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