Indian-origin doctor suicide case: UK to review hospital's support culture

Dr Vaishnavi Kumar, who worked at Birmingham Queen Elizabeth Hospital, died aged 35 in June 2022.

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Her inquest last year heard how she felt “belittled” at work and would come home and cry.

The University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust (UHB), which runs the hospital among several others in the region, was under an independent review following the death and amid wider performance-related concerns.

“In light of the tragic death by suicide of Dr Kumar – together with HEE [Health Education England], a review of the processes to support doctors in training who are concerned about their mental health, ability to speak up freely about concerns with colleagues and a clear message that they will be listened to,” reads one of the recommendations of the review.

The report notes that Kumar was a respected senior doctor in training, approximately one year from qualifying as a consultant diabetologist.

Her father, Ravi Kumar, also a doctor, told the Birmingham Coroner’s Court that his daughter felt the Queen Elizabeth Hospital was a “hypercritical environment to work in”.

“We were told of considerable unrest and indeed anger at the Trust’s response to this tragic event, from both Dr Kumar’s family and the staff who worked with her and the wider junior doctor community… Our review also heard from several employees at the Trust who expressed their disappointment and anger at the lack of senior representation at Dr Kumar’s funeral,” the report said.

It warns that “any continuance of a culture that is corrosively affecting morale and in particular threatens long-term staff recruitment and retention will put at risk the care of patients”.

The report chaired by Professor Mike Bewick, a former deputy medical director at NHS England and now an independent consultant, was commissioned last year after a number of complaints were raised about the trust, which employs over 22,000 people across several sites and operates four major hospitals in the West Midlands region.

“We have been disturbed by the consistent reporting of a bullying culture at the Trust and look forward to the next phase of the review where staff and patients will have the opportunity to speak freely and confidentially about their concerns,” said Bewick.

A Cross Party Reference Group, chaired by British Sikh MP from Birmingham Preet Kaur Gill, will continue to work closely with Bewick throughout the rest of the process.

“Patients can continue to be confident that the care and treatment provided at our hospitals is safe. We are pleased that Prof Bewick’s overall view ‘is that the Trust is a safe place to receive care’,” said Jonathan Brotherton, Chief Executive of UHB.

“There are a number of significant concerns that we need to, and have started to, address; we will continue to learn from the past, as we move forward,” he said.

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