Suicides of four Soroka physicians tied to stress on healthcare system
The committee said that hospital overcrowding and lack of staff was especially dire in the southern and northern periphery regions.
By HANNAH BROWNSoroka Medical Center in Beersheba(photo credit: DR. AVISHAI TEICHER/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)
A public committee that looked into the suicides of four doctors at Soroka-University Medical Center in Beersheba over a period of less than two years found no connection between the suicides, according to a report released Wednesday.The suicides took place between July 2018 and January 2020 and the committee was established at the end of January. The committee members were appointed by the former director-general of the Health Ministry, Moshe Bar Siman Tov, and Prof. Ehud Dodson, the director-general of the Clalit Health Fund.The committee found that each doctor committed suicide for different reasons and that there was no common thread of how they were treated by the hospital that led each doctor to take his life. It actually found that the management was supportive of staff members in distress, certainly in comparison to other hospitals around the country.According to the committee, the suicides that occurred at Soroka are only a symptom of a much more general problem with the medical system in Israel, in which hospitals are understaffed and doctors are overworked and stressed.The committee said that hospital overcrowding and lack of staff was especially dire in the southern and northern periphery regions.And the coronavirus pandemic is putting even more stress on the system. More than a quarter of the country’s doctors reported extremely high levels of anxiety because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to research by Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer released in August.On March 23, the state comptroller published a long report on the current situation of the Israeli healthcare system, warning that it was “not fully prepared” for such a pandemic. The report pointed out deficiencies that have been discussed for years but not addressed. These included an insufficient budget throughout the healthcare system, overcrowded hospitals, lack of intensive care beds, and shortages of medical staff and equipment.A Jerusalem physician who recently completed his training at Soroka said he was surprised by the suicides there and said that he found the senior medical staff there much kinder and more understanding than in the hospital where he currently works in the capital.“It was a much friendlier place than anywhere else I’ve worked,” he said. “I think doctors are stressed to the limit everywhere in Israel and of course now with corona, it’s only going to get worse... Anyone who has spent any time in an Israeli hospital recently, whether as a doctor, nurse or patient, knows how crowded the wards are, has seen beds in corridors, knows that doctors get just a couple of minutes with each patient, even with very serious cases. It’s no surprise some doctors get depressed.”
