MENTAL health helplines have been inundated with thousands of calls from NHS workers as battle panic attacks and suicidal thoughts.
One charity revealed that they are being contacted by up to 50 healthcare staff every day as they fight to save lives on the coronavirus frontline.
As well as caring for sick patients, staff are having to cope with the heartache of losing colleagues to the deadly virus.
Experts fear thousands of NHS workers will suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder from the number of deaths they are witnessing and the stress they are being put under.
One charity founder said that staff are worried about hugging their own children as they work around the clock in hospitals across the country.
According to the Sunday People, medical staff are suffering from panic attacks and sleepless nights as they fear they’ll be the next to die.
NHS bosses have revealed that they are planning on setting up a task force to deal with the staff suffering from mental health issues.
One nurse told the paper: “I cry on the way to work and I have panic attacks, wondering if today is the day I will get the virus.
“When you see so many nurses passing away, you think, ‘that could be me’. I’m in my twenties. I’ve treated patients my age with no underlying conditions.
“But I shouldn’t be on a bus thinking, ‘What will they do with my clothes if I pass away? Does my roommate have to pick up my things?”
SUN readers are today urged to sign a petition calling for our NHS staff to be awarded the George Cross.
Yesterday, we backed a proposal by Lord Ashcroft to honour our health heroes with the gallantry gong given for acts of bravery that did not take place in battle.
A No10 spokesman said: “The NHS is doing a fantastic job and the nation will want to find a way to say thank you when we have defeated this virus.”
SAS hero Andy McNab added: “The award of a George Cross would show an emotional appreciation.”
We are asking readers to sign the petition online at thesun.co.uk/georgecrossfornhs.
The Laura Hyde Foundation, which provides mental health support to emergency service workers has had to refer at least half of its 50 callers for urgent help.
Founder Liam Barnes said: “A number of doctors and nurses are self-isolating away from their families in hotel or temporary accommodation – they come home to nothing.
“They can’t share a bed with a partner. When their children are crying, they can’t hug them.”
He said: “The peak of the mental health impact could be in around six to 18 months. Once it stabilises they will start to think about the guilt, the grief, have they let people down?”
Andrew Molodynski, Consultant psychiatrist and mental health lead for the British Medical Association said a lot of people working in A&E are worried about bringing it home and infecting their families.
A mental health nurse working on a crisis line for major London trust said she’d received two referrals for suicidal staff and many more were showing signs of anxiety.
Healthcare assistant Jenelyn Carter, who worked at Morriston Hospital in Swansea is the latest NHS hospital worker to die after contracting the virus.
Micheal Allieu also died on Saturday at Homerton university hospital in East London.
Charlotte Cope, who qualified as a paramedic two years ago, was found dead in her home in Rhondda Valley, South Wales on Monday.
Her cause of death still remains unclear, but she had shared a heartbreaking message on social media before she died.
She wrote: “Life sucks right now ey. I miss my family.
“I miss weightlifting/training, I miss the freedom.
“But have to stay positive, dedicating all my time on the ambulance to help others in need at this time with my amazing colleagues.
“Stay safe everyone, please stay at home.”
EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide.
It doesn’t discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers.
It’s the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes.
And men are three times more likely to take their own life than women.
Yet it’s rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now.
That is why The Sun launched the You’re Not Alone campaign.
The aim is that by sharing practical advice, raising awareness and breaking down the barriers people face when talking about their mental health, we can all do our bit to help save lives.
Let’s all vow to ask for help when we need it, and listen out for others… You’re Not Alone.
If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support:
Emergency service colleagues had been called to Charlotte’s home in Gelli, Rhondda, South Wales, after a 999 call on Monday.
Friend and colleague Connor Quinn described Charlotte as a “very promising and proud paramedic adored by all who knew her.”
Connor wrote: “A very promising and proud South Wales paramedic adored by all who knew her, she had carried the weight of the world on her small shoulders in silence for far too long.
“Her heartwarming nature could be felt by everyone in her presence to which she was completely oblivious, this made her all the more special.”
Her colleague Connor Quinn said how she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.
In Britain, at least 43 NHS heroes have died after contracting Covid-19.
