NHS issues Apology to Family of Doctor who committed Suicide

The NHS has issued an apology to the family of a doctor who committed suicide.

Dr Vaishnavi Kumar was wrongly told she was required to undertake a further six months of training before starting a new job.

It meant she was forced to stay at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QE).

An inquest into her death heard that she was belittled by colleagues.

In a letter to Dr Kumar’s family, NHS bosses admitted she did not need to do the extra training.

In the letter, Dr Navina Evans, chief workforce and training education officer for NHS England, said to the family:

“I wish to unreservedly apologise for these mistakes and for the impact they would have had.

“As an organisation, we are determined to learn… not only across the Midlands but across England as a whole.

“I will be working with my senior team… to ensure this will be done.”

Her family revealed that Dr Kumar left a suicide note, blaming QE hospital.

Dr Kumar had been chosen as chief registrar at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals, where she worked throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

But Birmingham and Solihull Coroner’s Court heard in November 2022 that she began to struggle around December 2021 when she realised her training at the QE was being extended.

She was also grieving the loss of her grandfather, who died in March.

Her father Dr Ravi Kumar believes she would still be alive if the training extension had not happened.

He said: “She was promised that she would move away from this toxic place.”

Dr Kumar had strong leadership skills and was an outstanding mentor for other junior doctors.

However, her family said she changed at the QE and the inquest heard she told her parents consultants at the hospital had belittled her.

At the inquest, he elaborated: “She used to say it was a very hypercritical place.

“They used to pick up small little things. Belittle and be a bit condescending in the way they used to behave there.

“Most of the time she used to come back home and cry a little bit.”

“There was one particular incident she was mentioning, one of the consultants scoffed at her doing the handover of an acute case… In full public view, she was laughed at.

“It was very insensitive and she was really very upset at that time.”

University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB), which runs the hospital, has been embroiled in controversy since allegations of a toxic culture were uncovered.

A spokesperson for the trust has apologised for “unacceptable behaviours”.

It previously said it needed to learn following the death of Dr Kumar.

“Dr Vaishnavi Kumar was a kind, devoted, much-loved and highly respected doctor, friend and colleague, who had such a positive impact on her patients, offering them the very best care and treatment.”