The figures, published by the Office for National Statistics, come as ministers are urged to rethink a move to scrap mental health support funding for NHS workers
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Overworked NHS staff are being driven to suicide, with one life lost every three days.
A shocking 144 took their own lives in 2021 – the most recent records available. That is up nearly 40% from 105 in 2011.
The most recent year’s toll included 62 nurses, two midwives, six paramedics and 10 doctors.
The figures, published by the Office for National Statistics, come as ministers are urged to rethink a move to scrap mental health support funding for NHS workers.
Among those who took their own lives last year was junior doctor Vaish Kumar, 35, who left a note blaming Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where she worked.
GP and mum of two Gail Milligan, 47, a partner at Camberley Health Centre in Surrey, was also found dead in woodland in July, with her family blaming “the unbearable pressure of her job”.
One A&E doctor said the “toxic environment” of work almost drove her to suicide. Amy Attwater, 36, from Leamington Spa, Warks, said: “I’d get back home and just cry for an hour. I would calculate what drugs and what doses I could take to kill myself.”
The mum, a member of Doctors’ Association UK, went part-time, taking on roles in teaching and as an NHS 111 doctor – but says A&Es are worse now than at the peak of the Covid pandemic.
She believes the overstretched system has caused unnecessary deaths. Amy added: “It’s been building up for many years. The Government knew, and did nothing.
“I feel anger, frustration and despair. We’ve kept the NHS going for so long now on goodwill. But because we are now so disheartened, the goodwill has waned.”
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A survey of 600,000 NHS workers last autumn found nearly half had been made ill by stress at work and third felt burned out.
Forty Wellbeing Hubs were set up for staff during the pandemic, but funding will be pulled at the end of the month. Four have already closed and others have stopped taking referrals.
The Department of Health said: “Supporting the mental health and wellbeing of the workforce is a priority.
“This includes targeted psychological support and treatment and a national support service for those with more complex mental health needs brought about by issues such as trauma.”
The Samaritans is available 24/7 if you need to talk. You can contact them for free by calling 116 123, email [email protected] or head to the website to find your nearest branch. You matter.
