NHS staff are reaching “breaking point,” a mental health non-profit service for front-line workers warned today amid mounting pressure on the health service.

Frontline19, which provides free mental health support to front-line NHS workers has launched its Care in the Cold campaign to help staff facing extreme pressure.

Alarming statistics show that the suicide rate among healthcare workers remains significantly higher than the national average, with one nurse being lost each week and one doctor every three weeks.

The campaign calls for urgent support, through donations and volunteers, as demand increases for its services. 

Frontline19 founder Claire Goodwin-Fee said: “The pressures on NHS staff this winter are reaching breaking point. 

“While the public hears about overflowing hospitals and treatment delays, the mental health toll on the people holding the system together is often overlooked. 

“This is about more than just numbers or critical incidents — it’s about people: the staff and the patients they care for. 

“When NHS workers are exhausted and overwhelmed, their ability to deliver the level of care they wish to provide can be deeply affected. 

“These are the individuals who show up for us every day, yet too often they’re left struggling in silence. We simply cannot leave them out in the cold this winter.”

The move comes as hospitals and ambulance services across Britain are daily declaring critical incidents due to surging flu cases, severe staff shortages and unmanageable patient demand.

NHS staff are exhausted, overburdened and increasingly vulnerable as a result.

Many are enduring long, gruelling shifts in overcrowded hospitals, often while grappling with their own mental health struggles brought on or significantly exacerbated by the situation at work.