Medical director’s warning over increase in doctor suicide rate

THE SUICIDE rate among UK doctors is rising, a leading medic has claimed.

Female doctors have up to four times the risk of suicide compared to people in the general population, Dr Clare Gerada, medical director of the NHS Practitioner Health Programme (PHP), said. Dr Gerada told BBC Two’s

programme that between 2011 and 2015, 430 doctors took their own lives in England. The doctor described the issue of medics suffering from mental health problems as “the last taboo in the NHS”, and said one of the biggest causes is the effect of public complaints – something she said can “shatter their sense of self ”.

She added: “Doctors are at an incredibly high risk for mental illness. Female doctors have up to four times the risk of suicide in comparison to people in the (general) population.”

Dr Gerada, a former chairwoman of the Council of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said PHP is the only confidential service that offers doctors a range of assessments, treatment and case-management for all mental health problems.

In 10 years it has helped more than 5,000 doctors, of whom slightly over two-thirds were women.

The average age has dropped from 51.6 years to 38.9.

But doctors can only self-refer if they work in London. Other doctors can access the service but they must do so via their local clinical commissioning group, thereby losing their anonymity. Dr Gerada said the lack of confidentiality is a barrier and she wants NHS England to extend the London approach to any doctor who needs support.

Consultant anaesthetist Richard Harding took his own life last year after a serious complaint had been made about him to the General Medical Council.

He was eventually cleared but the process took five months. His wife Kate Harding, a GP, told the programme it brought back depression he had not had for years.

She said: “Those five months just felt endless.” Even after the complaint had been shelved, he was the type of person – afterwards – who questioned his decisions a lot more.

“The effects are more longlasting than you’d expect. I don’t think it occurred to him to seek help.” A spokesman for NHS England said: “NHS England launched the NHS GP Health service in 2017, a world first, nationally-funded confidential service which specialises in supporting GPs and trainee GPs experiencing mental ill health and which has already helped more than 1,500 GPs.

“NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups may offer additional support for professionals in their area, for example CCGs in London have commissioned the NHS Practitioner Health Programme for their staff.”