Medical Emergency

One doctor dies by suicide every three weeks, according to figures from the British Medical Association.

In 2021, Dr Lalith Wijedoru left his role as consultant paediatrician in emergency medicine, to safeguard his own mental health, and to focus on supporting his fellow doctors’ wellbeing.

Given rare access to a wellbeing and recovery retreat, we hear emotional testimonies from the four groups of doctors at greatest risk of suicide - General Practitioners, Anaesthetists, Surgeons and Clinical Psychiatrists.

Their stories - of workplace bullying, isolation, fatigue and fear of patient complaints - suggest a system in which doctors are made to feel like machines, rather than human beings.

The concept of 'moral injury' is also a factor - where a doctor is unable to provide the care they wish to give to their patient, due to lack of resources or system breakdown.

Many doctors we hear from say they feel intense internalised pressure to do better - to work harder, and to never complain at worsening conditions. All have suffered from fear of failure, and the lack of the opportunity to decompress after traumatic events in the workplace.

These stories take us to the heart of issues being faced by many or most NHS professionals - and by the ‘system’ more generally.

For Lalith, this sharing of difficult stories is an important pathway to recovery, even a life-saving intervention.

Lalith is spurred on to talk to those who seek to help and support doctors, from charities like Doctors in Distress, founded by the brother of a doctor who died by suicide, as well as those who are studying the problem of why - and how many - doctors are dying by suicide.

Worryingly, there are gaps in available data, because statistics are drawn from coroners' Preventable Death reports. In England, these are a matter for each individual coroner to decide on, so death by suicide is not uniformly recorded.

Having laid many of these problems bare, what hope is there of realistic change and improvement?

Presenter: Dr Lalith Wijedoru

Producer: Amanda Hargreaves

Sound design: Joel Cox

Location recordings: Jon Calver

Executive producer: Dave Howard

A Bespoken Media Scotland production for BBC Radio 4

This programme contains reference to suicide. If you've been affected by issues raised in this programme, you can find out more about organisations that can help by going to www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.