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Sudden death of doctors in training

The death of any individual is distressing, this is even more so when the death is unexpected or deliberate, as in suicide. Postgraduate Deans have a responsibility and duty of care to doctors in training.

As the health service finds itself under unprecedented pressure and demand, all members of the health and care team experience correspondingly higher levels of work intensity and so this issue is in sharper focus than ever before.

The documents on this page have been written to provide guidance for those tragic occasions when doctors in training have died unexpectedly. Its purpose is to provide a framework to support Postgraduate Deans and their teams to respond promptly, comprehensively and appropriately in these circumstances. The documents deal with a particularly difficult set of issues and very difficult circumstances. 

NHS Employers

Head First: Mental health and well being resource specifically for ambulance services.  This focuses on prevention and action following an "incident" and has been developed in conjunction with MIND. 

How are you feeling today: NHS emotional well being toolkit, developed in conjunction with Robertson Cooper following research in the NHS.

NHS Employers health and well being web pages: These include details of our 7 essentials for health and well being in the NHS.

- PHE suicide prevention and postvention toolkits

- Suicide Prevention

- Suicide Mitigation in Primary Care

Anaesthetists are thought to have an increased incidence of suicide, and therefore the Association of Anaesthetists has developed specific guidance to help support their colleagues. HEE fully supports the approach as stated in their guidance document Suicide amongst anaesthetists 2019