A junior doctor who felt overwhelmed by her working hours drowned herself in the sea after walking out halfway through a shift, an inquest was told.
The parents of Rose Polge, 25, called on the NHS to take action to alleviate the crisis of staff anxiety and low morale after describing how she had been working “under terrific pressure and over incredibly long hours”.
Dr Polge, who was well liked and professionally respected by colleagues at Torbay Hospital in Devon, died 48 hours after taking part in a strike by junior doctors over new employment contracts.
Her family said that junior doctors were struggling to cope and that consultants and senior doctors no longer had the time to mentor them. In a statement read by an aunt they said: “Doctors’ awareness of patient safety issues, together with an emphasis on self-reflection and personal responsibility, can generate massive levels of anxiety. Doctors can feel a dreadful sense of personal failure and inadequacy if they struggle to keep working. Sometimes the despair can be sudden and overwhelming.
“Many trainers report that they do not have enough time to provide educational supervision and some consultants are saying that they no longer have sufficient time to support their junior staff in their day-to-day work. Our hope is that something will be done about this crisis in the health service.”
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Alasdair Hawley, Dr Polge’s boyfriend and a fellow doctor, said in a statement read to the coroner that she had been suffering “dark thoughts” and doubts about her ability. He added: “I do not think that these were in any way backed up by any lack of performance, and feedback was that she was progressing well and was very capable.
“On the morning of Friday, February 12, I was in bed asleep and I was woken by Rose. She seemed low in mood and was distressed. She was voicing concerns about leaving medicine and told me she had been unable to sleep.
“I can remember her face and, looking back, she looked distressed. I do remember her asking me that if she left medicine, would I stay with her and I said, ‘Of course I would’.”
He said she was concerned about “holding it together” during an 11-day stretch of shifts. He was so worried about her that he left work early, expecting to find her at home but she was not there.
The hearing in Torquay was told that Dr Polge left two suicide notes, one listing “for and against” reasons for taking her own life. The other was said at the time of her death to mention Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, although he was not referred to in the inquest.
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Dr Polge was in a distressed state when she left work during her shift. Her car was abandoned at Anstey’s Cove, south Devon, where her clothes were found in a pile by the water’s edge. Her body was recovered two months later when it was found floating in the sea 45 miles away, off Dorset.
An examination of Dr Polge’s computer found she had been researching suicide methods, as well as possible alternative career options.
Ian Arrow, the south Devon coroner, said that he was in no doubt that Dr Polge had taken her own life. He added: “It is clear that she was unhappy, it is clear she expressed [her] concerns with her boyfriend and her GP.
“She has produced a ‘for and against’ list in her home and written a note at home which she left in her glove compartment. It appears to me that at some stage she has walked down to the coast. I’m satisfied that Rose decided to enter the water to end her life.”