West Herts joins Doctors in Distress to raise suicide awareness
Posted: 12 December 2023
Left to right: Sam Anthony, Dermatology Associate Specialist; Matthew Coats, Trust Chief Executive; Amandip Sidhu, Doctors in Distress Founder; Ann Paul, Doctors in Distress Chief Executive; Adam Kay; Phil Townsend, Trust Chairman
On 11 December, West Herts Hospitals welcomed Adam Kay and the charity Doctors in Distress to plant a memorial tree, dedicated to all healthcare workers who have lost their lives to suicide.
As a trust, we recognise the pressure faced by colleagues across many roles in the NHS, and we want to raise awareness of the support available. The rate of suicide in the health sector is higher than the general population and levels of burnout, anxiety and depression amongst medical personnel are at an all-time high.
Matthew Coats, Chief Executive, said: “To give patients the best care, we have to look after our staff; and we’re delighted to join the Doctors in Distress campaign to raise awareness of suicide and mental health difficulties.
“We want all our teams to know that there is help available if they need it, both from within the trust, and from charities like Doctors in Distress.”
The charity was founded by a Watford resident, Amandip Sidhu, whose cardiologist brother, Jagdip, died by suicide in 2018. West Herts joins several trusts who have planted memorial trees, and we hope many more will join us in the years ahead.
The Memorial Tree Campaign grew from Adam Kay’s BBC adaptation of his book This is Going to Hurt. The series culminated with the death by suicide of a doctor and a tree being planted as a memorial. Adam is a proud supporter of Doctors in Distress and joined us for our ceremony.
Adam said: “The facts that one NHS doctor takes their life every three weeks, and one nurse dies by suicide every three days are horrifying and almost unbelievable statistics.”
Amandip added: “It is really important to me to know that there are NHS Hospital Trusts which understand the pressure their workforce continues to have to deal with, and who are prepared to talk about the issue of suicide in the workforce.”
The charity works to protect the mental health and stop suicide of all healthcare workers. Helping those who are suffering from burnout and moral injury to prevent this from deteriorating to the point of despair or needing further mental health intervention.
Our staff can find out more about the wellbeing support available through our intranet, and wider information about Doctors in Distress is available.
If you are struggling, or think a colleague may be, please reach out. There is help and support available.
Ends
- For media enquiries, please contact the communications team on: 01923 436280 or email: westherts.communications@nhs.net. For out of hours media enquiries please call the Watford General Hospital switchboard on 01923 244366 and ask for the on call communications manager.
- West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves people from across Hertfordshire, north London and further afield. It operates from three hospitals: Watford General, St Albans City and Hemel Hempstead. The trust has a catchment area of over 500,000 people and is one of the largest employers locally, with around 5,000 staff and volunteers.
- For more information about our hospitals, visit www.westhertshospitals.nhs.uk. You can also join our followers on Twitter (twitter.com/westhertsNHS) and find us on Facebook (facebook.com/westhertsNHS).
