Online memorial launched for health and care workers lost to suicide

The world’s first online memorial dedicated to health and care professionals who have died by suicide has been launched by NHS Practitioner Health.

The Wall of Remembrance was unveiled on 17 September to mark National Suicide Memorial Day for Health and Care Workers. It provides a permanent space where relatives, friends and colleagues can share photographs, tributes and memories celebrating the lives and contributions of those who have died.

A separate Messages of Hope wall has also been created, allowing colleagues, patients, families and others to leave words of support and encouragement for health and care workers who may be struggling.

National Suicide Memorial Day was established in 2024 by NHS Practitioner Health and the charity Doctors in Distress. Organisers say that 2,500 healthcare workers in the UK have died by suicide since 2011, equivalent to an average of four people each week.

The theme for this year’s memorial day was “Lasting Memories, Building Hope”, reflecting its dual purpose of remembering those who have died while encouraging greater openness about mental health across the workforce.

Dr Sarah Jacques, GP co-lead at Doctors’ Association UK, welcomed the memorial but described its existence as “incredibly sad”. She said healthcare professionals face considerable pressures and called for cultural change within the NHS, warning that increasing numbers of colleagues were experiencing fear, sadness and burnout.

The memorial forms part of wider efforts to challenge the stigma surrounding mental ill health among healthcare professionals. NHS Practitioner Health said some staff feel unable to seek help through their local GP because they fear encountering someone with whom they work.

Alongside the online wall, NHS organisations are being encouraged to hold memorial events, check on colleagues, publicise specialist sources of support and take part in a campaign to plant memorial trees at hospital sites.

The wall is a place of remembrance, but it also carries a clear message for the living: caring for others must not come at the cost of healthcare workers feeling unable to ask for care themselves.

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