Healthcare Professional Suicide Risk
40 items
2 sources
High suicide rate among health service professionals, particularly GPs, indicating a need for greater awareness and preventative action.
Cross-Source Insight
Healthcare Professional Suicide Risk has been flagged across 2 independent accountability sources:
5 inquiry recs
35 PFD reports
This issue has been identified by multiple independent accountability bodies, suggesting it is a recurring systemic concern.
Inquiry Recommendations (5)
BRIS-103 — Royal College of Surgeons to develop training and explore surgeon age limits
Recommendation: The Royal College of Surgeons of England should, in partnership with university medical schools and the NHS, be enabled to develop its unit for the training of surgeons, particularly in new techniques. It should also explore the question of whether …
Unknown
4 — Establish continuing professional development requirements
Recommendation: Following completion of additional training or experience where necessary, the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust should identify requirements for continuing professional development of staff and link this explicitly with professional requirements including revalidation. This should be completed …
Gov response: [A] Recommendations for the Trust Recommendations for the Trust: 1-18 1. The Morecambe Bay Investigation found that there were serious failures in clinical care at University Hospitals Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, causing avoidable harm …
Accepted
COVID-M3.10 — Healthcare Worker Support
Recommendation: The UK government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive, working with healthcare employers and professional bodies, should put in place plans to deliver effective support for healthcare workers at scale from the outset of a pandemic. Plans should …
Gov response: No formal response published by this government.
Unknown
COVID-M3.8 — Recording Healthcare Worker Deaths
Recommendation: The UK government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive should work with their respective public health agencies and healthcare employers to develop nation-specific mechanisms to collect, analyse and publish data systematically on the deaths of healthcare workers in …
Gov response: No formal response published by this government.
Unknown
R36 — Medical staffing levels
Recommendation: Health Boards should ensure that the level of medical staffing planned and provided is sufficient to provide safe high-quality care.
Gov response: Section 4.1 of the Scottish Government's response addresses the need for appropriate levels of medical staff to provide safe, high-quality care. It states a full commitment to planning an NHS workforce that delivers high-quality services, …
Accepted
PFD Reports (35)
Benjamin Websdale
Concerns: There's no national recording of police officer suicides during misconduct investigations, preventing identification of risk and support needs. Also, not all police forces have implemented trauma education campaigns.
Pending
Steven Davidson
Concerns: Healthcare staff at HMP Chelmsford lack proficiency in navigating System One records to find critical past self-harm information, or are unaware of its importance during prisoner health assessments, indicating training deficiencies.
Response: HCRG has amended its training provision to include mandatory structured SystmOne training for all new staff during induction and refresher training for existing staff. They are also embedding this training …
Responded
Wayne Brown
Concerns: The fire service lacked policy for investigating work-related suicides and provided inadequate mental health support for senior staff, failing to record welfare concerns during investigations.
Responded
John McLoughlin
Concerns: Peer Support for pilots is inadequate for severe mental health issues and suicidal thoughts, highlighting a lack of robust mental health support for escalating problems within the industry.
Overdue
Anugrah Abraham
Concerns: Police occupational health lacks specialist mental health nurses and post-death investigation for learning. Protocols are unclear for officers disclosing suicidal thoughts, and student officer training causes stress without adequate progress tracking.
Responded
Benjamin Sulzbacher
Overdue
Ruth Perry
Concerns: Ofsted's inspection system lacks transparency, negatively impacts school leader welfare, and has insufficient training for managing distress or clear channels for raising concerns. Local authority support also lacks formal policy.
Responded
Christopher Hart
Concerns: Persistent and significant ambulance non-availability in the East of England region led to extreme delays, where prompt arrival and early treatment could have saved a patient's life.
Responded
Gina Bywater
Concerns: Persistent and severe ambulance non-availability in the East of England led to nearly 10-hour delays. Expert evidence indicates that prompt ambulance arrival and early treatment could have saved the patient's life.
Responded
Barry Lall
Concerns: The General Dental Council's practice of publishing extensive, detailed allegations on its website for unconcluded cases can cause significant mental health distress to practitioners who are contesting them.
Responded
Robert Stevenson
Concerns: Prescribing doctors may be unaware of a rare potential link between Ciprofloxacin/Quinolone antibiotics and suicidal behaviour, especially in depressed patients. Guidelines should be reviewed to increase awareness and mitigate this risk.
Overdue
Stephen Chapple and Jennifer Chapple
Concerns: The British Army's practice of presenting fully functional ceremonial daggers to retiring soldiers poses a significant risk, particularly given the potential for recipients to have mental health issues from combat service.
Responded
Lyn Brind
Concerns: Critical delays in transferring patients from ambulances to the emergency department are caused by hospital bed shortages, leading to insufficient patient monitoring and significant ambulance handover delays.
Responded
Kyriacos Athanasis
Concerns: Hospital overcrowding and delays in transferring patients from ambulances to the emergency department led to inadequate safety checks and delayed diagnosis of severe injuries.
Responded
Lee Winslow
Concerns: The Trust failed to formally refer a doctor who misappropriated medicines for self-harm to external authorities (police, GMC), and did not reconsider its position when he continued private practice. A critical lack of multi-disciplinary review, relying on the medical hierarchy, was noted given the gravity and prior similar cases.
Responded
Neil McDougall
Concerns: Military debriefs lack individual trauma support and promote alcohol use over discussion. The resettlement process for leavers fails to provide mandatory comprehensive mental health assessments, leaving ex-personnel reliant on external services.
Responded
Susan Carling
Concerns: High suicide rates among health service professionals require broader attention and action beyond existing support to prevent future deaths in this vulnerable professional group.
Overdue
James Forryan
Concerns: Easily accessible websites openly promote and provide guidance on suicide methods, contributing to deaths. There is a lack of sufficient regulation and enforcement against such harmful online content.
Responded
Billy Longshaw
Concerns: The Trust failed to conduct a detailed investigation into serious clinical incidents, submitted a flawed incident report, and showed a lack of understanding in applying the Mental Capacity Act 2005 for patients with learning disabilities.
Overdue
Sarah-Louise Doyle
Concerns: Predictable timing of patient observations allowed for potential self-harm planning, indicating a need for more frequent and unpredictable monitoring practices within mental health settings.
Responded
Khairul Rahman
Concerns: The prison healthcare system lacks robust, accurate documentation of clinical interactions and response times. There is also an unclear and inconsistent application of the NEWS2 scoring system for monitoring patient deterioration.
Responded
Helen Spicer
Concerns: Oral morphine lacks sufficient controls, including import/export restrictions and safe custody requirements, making it easy to obtain without accountability.
Responded
Kelly Hewitt
Concerns: There is an inadequate provision of mental health support for prison officers, which needs urgent review.
Responded
Jaden Francois-Espirit
Concerns: The London Fire Brigade failed to recognise deteriorating mental well-being in a firefighter, missing subtle signs and not exploring his refusal of offered support.
Responded
Madhavbhai Patel
Concerns: A patient's family was not given clear, specific guidance on the definition of "bite-sized" food according to IDDSI standards for dysphagia, nor tailored advice for their cultural diet and eating practices.
Responded
Shaun Dewey
Concerns: The elevated risk of self-harm and suicide among remand prisoners is not adequately highlighted in staff training, care practices, or national guidance documents like ACCT.
Responded
Carl Sargeant
Concerns: Lack of appropriate support channels for high-profile individuals removed from government positions, especially concerning media interest and potential mental vulnerabilities.
Responded
Joshua Blackham
Concerns: Surrey Police lacked written policies for Welfare Officers, particularly regarding specialized training, effective communication with professional standards, and appropriate arrest locations for serving officers.
Responded
Terence Thornton
Concerns: Severe staffing shortages of radiology clinicians at Derriford Hospital are creating dangerous work pressures and increasing the risk of medical errors and fatalities.
Overdue
Nathan Mooney
Concerns: The report indicates general concerns were raised during the inquest, but specific details regarding the identified risks were not provided in the text.
Responded
Charlie Craig
Concerns: British Cycling does not conduct health assessments or medical screening for young riders on its World Class Programme, missing opportunities to identify potential cardiac abnormalities.
Responded
Laura McRory
Concerns: The Trust lacked a clear process for employees seeking mental health care, especially regarding confidentiality and external referrals. There was also an inadequate safety plan on discharge and deficiencies in the internal investigation.
Responded
Lee Gaunt
Concerns: The Fire and Rescue Service failed to provide effective occupational health support, assigning extra duties to a distressed employee after a colleague's death, indicating a general lack of support for staff in stressful situations.
Responded
John Davies
Concerns: GMC investigations are causing unrecognised psychological distress in clinicians, underscoring the need for improved communication, support resources, and proactive assessment for suicidal or self-harming behaviours.
Overdue
Ishmail Kubilay
Concerns: The Prison Ombudsman's clinic review identified healthcare deficiencies with national implications, but the specific recommendations are truncated in the provided text.
Overdue