GP died by suicide after pressure from job became “overwhelming,” says husband

The recent suicide of a Surrey GP has been blamed on the “overwhelming” pressure of her job, prompting GPs’ leaders to call on the government to do more to tackle the spiralling workload in general practice.

Gail Milligan, aged 47, was found dead in woodland by a police search and rescue team after being missing for 24 hours.

Her husband, Christopher Milligan, said, “Her job as a partner at a GP surgery became overwhelming. Especially during the pandemic.” In a message posted originally in a private social media group he said, “We are in no doubt that the job made her ill.” His message has since been widely shared on Twitter after he gave permission for it to be made public.

“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,” he wrote. “For years she has been giving everything she had to other people in her …