{"id":130939,"date":"2025-11-09T19:55:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T19:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/130939\/"},"modified":"2025-11-09T19:55:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T19:55:10","slug":"memorial-tree-at-derrys-ulster-university-pays-tribute-to-healthcare-professionals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/130939\/","title":{"rendered":"Memorial tree at Derry&#8217;s Ulster University pays tribute to healthcare professionals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>PICTURED ABOVE:\u00a0Professor Louise Dubras, Foundation Dean of the School of Medicine at Ulster University, and Dr Rose McCullagh from the charity Doctors in Distress, plant a memorial tree at the Derry campus to mark the University\u2019s participation in the UK-wide National Memorial Tree Campaign, honouring the dedication and compassion of health and social care professionals.<\/p>\n<p>A memorial tree has been planted at Ulster University\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.derrynow.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Derry<\/a> campus to honour the dedication and compassion of health and social care professionals across the country.<\/p>\n<p>The event marks the University\u2019s participation in the\u00a0National Memorial Tree Campaign, a UK-wide initiative led by the mental health charity\u00a0Doctors in Distress\u00a0in association with its Patron, BAFTA winner and former NHS doctor Adam Kay.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The campaign aims to commemorate healthcare workers who have died by suicide and to raise awareness of the importance of protecting the mental health and wellbeing of those working in the health and social care sector.<\/p>\n<p>Ulster University and The Western Health and Social Care Trust have each planted a tree to remember and support healthcare workers. The Western Trust hosted its first gatherings on\u00a0World Mental Health Awareness Day\u00a0in October at newly planted memorial trees at Altnagelvin Hospital and South West Acute Hospital.<\/p>\n<p>This week, to mark National Stress Awareness Day (Wednesday, November 5), Ulster University has planted its tree on the Derry campus &#8211; home to the Schools of Medicine, Nursing and Paramedic Science, Health Sciences, and Applied Social and Policy Sciences (Social Work). The initiative shines a light on the impact of stress on health and social care professionals and encourages everyone to lead with love, kindness, and compassion.<\/p>\n<p>Professor Louise Dubras MBE, Foundation Dean of Ulster University\u2019s School of Medicine, said: \u201cUlster University is delighted to work in partnership with The Western Health and Social Care Trust and Doctors in Distress to plant this tree as a tribute to past, present and future health professionals, staff, students and all who collaborate with them, across fields of study and professional pathways on campus and in our community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is our hope that this tree will be a place of calm and quiet reflection for all our future health professionals and indeed all those who study, work and visit the Derry campus.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.derrynow.com\/news\/derry-sport\/1938014\/county-derry-s-josh-mcerlean-and-co-driver-walk-away-from-crash-in-rally-japan.html\" class=\"vc_cont_image\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"vc_image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.derrynow.com\/resizer\/150\/-1\/true\/2025_11_07\/John_McErlean_crash_rally_Japan_%28Pic_WRC_Motorsport%29-1762526645260_1762526663.jpg--county_derry_s_josh_mcerlean_and_co_driver_walk_away_from_crash_in_rally_japan.jpg?1762526663653\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.derrynow.com\/news\/home\/1937794\/evolve-celebrates-5-000-gas-connections-in-just-five-years.html\" class=\"vc_cont_image\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"vc_image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.derrynow.com\/resizer\/150\/-1\/true\/2025_11_07\/Evolve_5000th_Connection_4_Cropped-1762516621119.jpg--evolve_celebrates_5_000_gas_connections_in_just_five_years.jpg?1762516621178\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe poignant themes of leading with love and treating ourselves and others with kindness are particularly close to my heart, and I hope those sentiments prevail and touch all who visit this place.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn this Stress Awareness Day, I encourage all our staff and students to look after their own wellbeing and to extend a helping hand to friends and colleagues.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Doctors in Distress Patron, BAFTA winner, former NHS doctor and bestselling author of\u00a0This is Going to Hurt,\u00a0Adam Kay, added: \u201cThe first step in solving a problem must be in admitting that the problem exists, and this is something I tried to highlight in the BBC adaptation of my book,<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is Going to Hurt. The series culminated in the death by suicide of a doctor called Shruti &#8211; a fictional character based on so many tragic stories. In the show, a tree was planted in her memory, which has led to trees being planted in real-life hospitals to commemorate lost colleagues.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m very proud to support\u00a0Doctors in Distress\u00a0in raising awareness of this vital issue and protecting the mental health of healthcare workers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Through this initiative, Ulster University and The Western Health and Social Care Trust join others across the UK in remembering colleagues, raising awareness of stress in the profession, and promoting a message of compassion and support for those who dedicate their lives to caring for others.<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PICTURED ABOVE:\u00a0Professor Louise Dubras, Foundation Dean of the School of Medicine at Ulster University, and Dr Rose McCullagh&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130940,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[76385,26291,7726,103,397,396,61,60,76386,76384],"class_list":{"0":"post-130939","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-altnagelvin-hospital","9":"tag-county-derry","10":"tag-derry","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-health-care","13":"tag-healthcare","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland","16":"tag-ulster-university-magee","17":"tag-western-trust"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}