Junior doctor suicides: At least 20 lives lost due to enormous pressure

ONE of the state’s “brightest young doctors” is among four junior physicians to take their lives in recent months in suicides that have rocked the health system.

Leonie Eagles lost her daughter Chloe in January to suicide due to the pressure of being a junior doctor. Picture: Justin Lloyd

ONE of the state’s “brightest young doctors” is among four junior physicians to take their lives in recent months in a spate of suicides that has rocked the health system and forced the Minister to intervene to stop medicine’s “shameful secret”.

The Saturday Telegraph can today reveal that an urgent investigation launched last night has already found at least 20 medics whose lives have been lost to self-harm.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard concedes it’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Chloe Abbott swam for Australia at the 2003 FINA World Championships.

The medical degree of Chloe Abbott from Sydney University. Picture: Justin Lloyd

The Australian Medical Association has lauded 29-year-old Chloe Abbott as a “champion for young doctors”. Yet the fourth-year doctor-in-training took her life on January 9.

Her family believe the “brutal” and “completely unsustainable” expectations of her job, which she juggled while studying 40-hours a week for an upcoming medical exam, contributed to her death.

“The day before she passed away I begged her to leave medicine,” her younger sister, Micaela, told The Saturday Telegraph.

“From what I saw, the expectations were brutal. This exam that was meant to be next month … it became everything to her.

“Someone that had so much to offer was made to feel like, in the end, she wasn’t good enough, would never be good enough and anything she did would never be enough. It’s such a loss. She was so brilliantly smart.”

Leonie Eagles said doing medicine cost her daughter Chloe her life. Picture: Justin Lloyd

Health Minister Brad Hazzard.

Mr Hazzard has given his department one month to come up with a plan to stop the suicides.

“This is not just doctors. All our medical staff, including nurses and paramedics, who deal with patients on an urgent basis are potentially at risk,” he said.

“We need to understand the full breadth of the problem so we can start putting evidence based measures in place to help those who help us when we need it.”

Mr Hazzard said he has spoken with NSW Coroner Michael Barnes, who revealed records show 20 doctors in NSW have committed suicide from 2007 to 2016.

“The coroner also informed me there were possibly more because the police don’t always record occupations,” Mr Hazzard said.

Dr Abbott’s family decided to speak publicly today after hearing of the other recent suicides.

“There is something wrong with the system, but if no one comes forward no one says anything it gets swept under the rug,” Micaela said.

Dr John Moutzouris took his life in January.

Dr Moutzouris on the job.

Dr Abbott was a qualified podiatrist who worked at St Vincent’s Hospital until late 2016.

Her mother, Leonie Eagles, said she watched her incredibly intelligent and resilient daughter, who competed internationally for swimming, be consumed by “great stress and pressure”.

“I wouldn’t want anybody to do medicine — it cost her her life,” Ms Eagles told The Saturday Telegraph.

Others recent cases include a “brilliant doctor” from Campbelltown Hospital who died in September.

She was remembered in an online memorial as a “young woman who dedicated her short life to caring for others”.

And John Moutzouris, a doctor at Liverpool Hospital understood to have been about to start special training in renal medicine, took his life on January 26.

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“Since John died, we have heard of many more doctors who have taken their own lives,” it says. “It’s medicine’s shameful secret but hopefully we can start shedding some light into these dark corners.”

The Saturday Telegraph has also been told of a fourth Sydney junior doctor who committed suicide in recent weeks. It is understood to be a surgical registrar.

AMA NSW president Brad Frankum said it was time the industry “faced facts” on suicides.

Dr Frankum said junior doctors were under extreme pressure because of a hospital culture that fostered a competitive environment and placed young people under intense scrutiny with extremely long work hours.

Unbelievably, Dr Frankum said some were simply resigned to suicides being part of the industry. A St Vincent’s Hospital spokesman said Dr Abbott’s death was a “great tragedy” and she was supported throughout her employment with “counselling and support”.

“St Vincent’s acknowledges that the health — including mental health — of junior medical officers is a major issue across the health system,” he said.

“If a JMO presents with a mental health issue while at St Vincent’s there are a range of supports that might be offered.”

South Western Sydney Local Health District — in charge of Campbelltown and Liverpool Hospitals — extended their “sincere condolences to the families” of their staff members who died.

“The wellbeing of staff is a priority for the District and there are a number of programs and initiatives in place to provide regular and ongoing support to staff,” the spokeswoman said.

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