The Santara Clinics in Vilnius, one of the biggest hospitals in the country, has reported the loss of one of its doctors. It is suspected that the man has committed suicide. A medical workers’ organisation says the incident is a result of deep-seated problems in the healthcare system.
The Health Ministry says that following the suspected suicide of a doctor at Santara Clinics, the hospital’s staff are being provided with psychological support. The doctor worked as an abdominal surgeon.
“The Ministry, for its part, reacted immediately to this matter, and teams of psychologists were sent there, mobile crisis teams of psychologists, who are providing counselling. As of today, about 70 people have expressed interest in receiving counselling,” Tomas Bagdonas, an adviser at the Health Ministry, told LRT TV.
The doctor has been heading the robotic surgery team since summer. The Santara Clinics said in a statement that the hospital community was shocked and saddened by the incident.
“The doctor was an important and valued member of the Santara Clinics community and team: an experienced abdominal surgeon, diligent, professional, striving for innovation, appreciated by patients and respected by colleagues. He devoted much of his activity to liver transplantation, the treatment of oncology patients, and the training of students and residents,” the hospital said.
The doctor’s death is subject to a pre-trial investigation. Reasons for the suspected suicide are not yet clear.
However, reviewing workloads at hospitals is one of the priorities for the Health Ministry, says adviser Bagdonas.
“If it [the death] is linked to the working conditions, we will do our part, but first we will wait for the police investigation,” he told LRT TV.
This would not the first case of a medic committing suicide in recent months. In late November, LRT.lt reported a case of a midwife at Šiauliai Republican Hospital having committed suicide at the end of September. The incident was later confirmed by the hospital itself.
These painful cases are the result of deep problems, says Auristida Gerliakienė, president of the Medics Movement. One of them is the chronic underfunding of the healthcare system. The government keeps promising free, quick and quality medical services and it is the doctors who bear the brunt of delivering it, resulting in stress and burnout.
“People working in the healthcare system can no longer cope with the ordinary challenges that every human being has to deal with, and errors are made on the job, and the responsibility of medics is incomparably higher than that of workers in other sectors, they are often even subjected to criminal liability for the mistakes they make,” says Gerliakienė.
She says medics should be encouraged to express their need for psychological counselling, she adds, as did 70 staff members at the Santara Clinics.
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