Plea for special teams to handle suicide bid patients

Specialist teams of medical experts must be drafted in to deal with the 10,000 people admitted to hospitals after attempting suicide each year, it was urged today.

Liam McNamara of the Psychiatric Nurses’ Association (PNA) said senior medical consultants were calling for dedicated teams to be provided – with over 8,500 cases of deliberate self-harm presenting straight to accident and emergency wards.