Reflections on my Churchill Fellowship
Saving the healers
– preventing suicides in the healthcare professions.*
In the summer of 2018, I lost a close medical friend to suicide. Amidst my sadness was the realisation that I had been hearing about suicides amongst my healthcare colleagues and friends with grim regularity. As a Psychiatrist I used to come across patients dying by suicide which has a huge emotional impact on loved ones, friends, professionals who have interacted with the patients and colleagues working in mental health services. Losing a colleague or friend to suicide hits close to the bone.
Dr Ananta Dave
Chief Medical Officer for the Black Country ICB, Past President of the British Indian Psychiatric Association Twitter/X: @adave_NHS
