National Suicide Memorial Day 2026 | Doctors in Distress UK
National Suicide Memorial Day 2026: Why Northern Ireland’s Doctors and Nurses Are Still Waiting for Help
Today, Thursday 17 September 2026, is National Suicide Memorial Day for Health and Care Workers, a day set up by NHS Practitioner Health and Doctors in Distress to remember the health and care professionals lost to suicide, and to push for change across the UK. To mark it, JustMentalTalk has released a new episode with Susannah Basile, Director of External Affairs and Policy at Doctors in Distress, recorded in Belfast.
In the episode, Susannah shared a statistic that stopped us in our tracks: a doctor takes their own life every three weeks in the UK. A nurse or midwife, every week. It’s the kind of figure that’s easy to scroll past and hard to sit with, which is exactly why National Suicide Memorial Day exists.
What is National Suicide Memorial Day for Health and Care Workers?
National Suicide Memorial Day for Health and Care Workers was launched on 17 September 2024 by NHS Practitioner Health and Doctors in Distress. It falls every year on 17 September, and exists to remember colleagues, friends and loved ones lost to suicide within the health and care workforce, and to spark action to protect those still working today.
Since 2011, more than 2,500 healthcare workers in the UK have died by suicide, an average of four every week. In 2024, one in three health and care professionals who registered with NHS Practitioner Health disclosed experiencing suicidal thoughts or plans.
Source: Doctors in Distress & NHS Practitioner Health, National Suicide Memorial Day Communications Toolkit, 2026
Doctors in Distress: who they are
Doctors in Distress is an independent charity providing peer support for all UK-based healthcare workers, set up in 2019 by Amandip Sidhu following the death of his brother, Dr Jagdip Sidhu, a consultant cardiologist. Since its first support programme launched in 2020, the charity has directly supported more than 6,000 people through free weekly peer support groups and awareness campaigns, including the National Memorial Tree Campaign, which encourages hospital trusts across the country to plant a tree in memory of colleagues lost to suicide.
Northern Ireland’s gap: no NHS Practitioner Health
NHS Practitioner Health is a free, confidential NHS mental health and addiction service for doctors and dentists, and has treated more than 30,000 health and care workers across England and Scotland. Northern Ireland has no equivalent dedicated service, a gap Doctors in Distress has been actively campaigning to close, alongside a coalition of UK medical organisations.
It’s a point Susannah returned to throughout the episode: the workforce pressures behind National Suicide Memorial Day aren’t evenly matched by the support available in every part of the UK.
Listen to the full episode
The full conversation with Susannah Basile is available now on JustMentalTalk, on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and right here on justmental.net.
Get support
- Doctors in Distress Peer Support Groups — free, confidential, sign up via Eventbrite (link)
- Doctors in Distress — contact@doctors-in-distress.org.uk
- Lifeline NI — 0808 808 8000, free and available 24/7
- Samaritans — 116 123, free and available 24/7
“There is no healthcare without self-care.” — Doctors in Distress
