Study finds suicide prevention strategies work

Strategies for tackling suicide have led to falling death rates in England and Wales, a study has found.

Health authorities that implemented recommendations saw suicide rates fall between 1997 and 2006.

In contrast, those that did not introduce them saw little change.

The recommendations were made in the 1990s by the National Confidential Inquiry (NCI) into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness.

They included a wide range of measures such as removing any ligature points from wards, community outreach, provision of a 24-hour crisis team, seven-day follow-up for discharged patients, multidisciplinary reviews, sharing information with criminal justice agencies and families, and continuous training for frontline staff.

Between 1997 and 2006, the NCI recorded 12,881 suicides within 91 mental health services in England and Wales.

By 2006, authorities that implemented between seven and nine recommendations had a suicide rate of nine deaths per 10,000 patient contacts per year. Authorities implementing between zero and six had a suicide rate of 11.

Provision of 24-hour crisis care was associated with the biggest decline in suicide rates.

The authors, led by Professor Navneet Kapur, from the University of Manchester, wrote: “Our findings suggest that aspects of provision of mental health services can affect suicide rates in clinical populations.

“Investigation of the relation between new initiatives and suicide could help to inform future suicide prevention efforts and improve safety for patients receiving mental healthcare.”