An NHS doctor has died after enduring the 'unbearable pressure of her job' which led her to take her own life, her husband has said.
Dr Gail Miligan, 47, was found in woodland in Bracknell, Berskshire 24 hours after she was reported missing. In an emotional online statement, Christopher Milligan paid tribute to his wife and described the immense pressure and workload she under in hopes of raising awareness for other doctors.
In a Facebook post, he wrote:It's such a sad waste of a wonderful, beautiful, funny and absolutely bananas wife, mother and doctor.”
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Dr Gilligan would leave for her job at Camberley Health Centre four days a week at 6.45am and wouldn't return home until 8pm. After this she would continue to work until he made her go to sleep at 11pm.
On Thursdays, she would work for as long as 12 hours from home. During the pandemic, her work-related responsibilities increased due to working in a vaccination centre and care home where she tragically watched may old people die.
On top of this, she was responsible for training three GPs and an HR role at her surgery. Mr Milligan continued: "Next time you hear someone bang on about lazy doctors, please stop and think about what happened to my wife." According to Thames Valley Police, Dr Milligan, from Wokingham was reported missing at 11pm on Wednesday, July 27 with her body being discovered 24 hours later near Foresters Way, Bracknell.
Mr Milligan added: "For years she has been giving everything she had to other people in her professional life and private life too.
"She really was the best of us. Her job as a partner at a GP surgery became overwhelming. Especially during the pandemic.
"She was seeing patients face-to-face the whole time, as well as the unbelievable amount of telephone consultations that were happening. She saw old people dying in care homes during the pandemic, and was working at the vaccine centres.
"The pressure of not making mistakes, and the endless emails and paperwork meant that for the last few years of her life she'd been neglecting herself. She used to leave for work at 6.45am and not get home until usually between 19.30 and 20.00.
"When she arrived at home she would generally work until I made her go to bed at 11pm. That was a 'lazy' four days a week. On her 'lazy' day off on Thursdays, she would work for about 12 hours.
"Meetings on Zoom and Microsoft Teams, never-ending emails and calls. This tipped over into the weekends more recently. The same workload all weekend.
"Very recently she hasn't 'even had time for an hour's dog walk. All that and running the business of the practice. Human resources was her responsibility too, and sadly, it turned out to be the thing that broke her.
"Last Sunday afternoon she opened an email that hit her so hard that she never recovered. She went into a deep, deep, depression. She had lost the ability to think rationally.
"Something had gone wrong in her head. By the time we realised what was happening, it was already too late."
Dr Milligan died three days lighter, despite attempts form family and colleagues to intervene.
He continued: "This was not a cry for help, it was clearly the only way she could see an end to her suffering. If you knew my wife, you know how far from normal any of this was for her.
“Looking back, talking to friends and family, I think she had been hiding it for years, while helping other people deal with their mental health, she neglected her own.
“Me and my boys are broken. Especially me. I don’t think I will ever be the same again.
“There just aren’t enough GPs to cope, and now there is one less. An hour after I found that Gail was dead, I had to take our dog to be put to sleep.
"Aggressive cancer had torn through her at a terrific rate."
Thames Valley Police have said they are treating Dr Milligan's death as unexpected, but not suspicious. Superintendent Helen Kenny, Bracknell and Wokingham Commander said: “Very sadly, after an extensive search, we have located the body of a woman.
“We are offering support to her next of kin, and on behalf of Thames Valley Police, I extend our heartfelt condolences to her family and friends at this extremely difficult time.”
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