The “appalling” state of GP suicides has come under the spotlight in the UK, where a conference has heard the failure to provide care is as barbaric as “sending young men over the top” in World War I. 

The annual UK local medical committees (LMC) conference in Belfast passed a motion this week seeking more action over the “the appalling statistics and circumstances of doctor suicides”.

The motion has called on the British Medical Association’s General Practice Committee to raise the issue of GP suicide with all major stakeholders, and to seek better understanding of any preventable triggers.

Suffolk GP Dr Lucy Henshall moved the motion, telling the conference about the 2013 suicide of her friend and colleague, GP Dr Richard Bennett, an “inspiring” GP trainer, skilled clinician and GP partner who had worked with a charity helping torture victims.