Trigger warning — Suicide & Miscarriage
This episode discusses suicide, miscarriage, grief and trauma. Please take care while listening.
In this one-off special for Suicide Awareness Month, we bring the much-missed Liz Sizer back into the room. Tom Mitchell is joined by Kate Beed, Liz’s sister, for a candid, moving conversation about Liz’s life, career and the circumstances that led to her tragic death by suicide in 2016.
Kate and Tom trace Liz’s story from her physical presence and determination — a 6ft-1 anaesthetic trainee who moved into a male-dominated specialty and later became a consultant at King’s — to the pressures and hidden traumas that accompanied life as a doctor. They reflect on how doctors face repeated exposure to distressing events, how desensitisation can become a coping mechanism, and how that coping, left unsupported, can become dangerously isolating.
Kate speaks openly about her work with Mind following Liz’s death and shares practical guidance on recognising emotional pain in colleagues — what to look out for, how to ask the right questions, and how to offer support. The conversation also touches on miscarriage, grief, generational shifts in how mental health is handled, and the tension between the drive to appear resilient and the real need for headspace and sustainable support.
This episode is a heartfelt exploration of professional pressures, personal trauma, and the consequences of not having the right structures in place to care for those who care for others. It’s a respectful tribute to Liz and a call to action for better duty of care in healthcare.
What we discuss / Key themes
- Liz Sizer’s life, career and legacy
- The pressures of working in medicine: burnout, trauma exposure and desensitisation
- Miscarriage, grief and their impact on mental health
- How to spot if a colleague is in emotional pain and what to do next
- The experience of grieving a colleague and surviving unanswered questions after suicide
If this episode affects you — support & resources (UK)
If you are in immediate danger or feel you may harm yourself, call 999.
- Samaritans: 116 123 (anytime) — samaritans.org
- Mind: mind.org.uk
- NHS mental health services: nhs.uk/mental-health
If you’re outside the UK, please consult your local emergency services and mental health organisations.
About Kate Beed
After a successful career spanning over 20 years in central government delivering diversity and inclusion programmes as well as large scale change programmes, Kate experienced the trauma of losing her sister, Dr Liz Sizer, to suicide. They were close in a way that sisters often are sharing special memories and fun times. Kate was completely devasted by Liz’s suicide.
Kate’s need to know more about how Liz got into such a dark place, led her to join Cambridgeshire Peterborough and South Lincolnshire Mind to develop a suicide mitigation training programme for GPs and other primary care staff. The programme was recognised nationally when it was awarded a ‘This Can Happen’ award in 2020 for the Best Mental Health Initiative in the Workplace. Kate was instrumental in influencing system-wide thinking across both primary and secondary care in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, as well as working hard to engage the wider community to raise awareness of suicide.
🎙️This episode was presented by You Okay, Doc? Patron, Former England Rugby 7’s Captain and Silver medalist Olympian Tom Mitchell.
💜 A big thank you to our sponsor, Pastest for supporting this episode.
👉 Don’t forget to download, rate, subscribe, and share to spread the word and support those who take care of us.
