National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health: Annual report

The National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health (NCISH) has published its latest annual report. The report provides findings relating to people aged 10 and above who died by suicide between 2009 and 2019 across the UK, in addition to  findings on the number of people under mental health care who have been convicted of homicide, and those in the general population.

There were 66,991 suicides in the general population, an average of 6,090 deaths per year (an increase of 8% in 2018-19 compared to 2017). 18,268 were suicide deaths by patients (i.e. people in contact with mental health services within 12 months of suicide), an average of 1,661 deaths per year. The report also found:

• The majority of patients who died had a history of self-harm (64%) and there were high proportions of those with alcohol (47%) and drug (37%) misuse, and comorbidity i.e. more than one mental health diagnosis (53%).
• 5,218 patients died by suicide in acute care settings, including in-patients (6%), post-discharge care (15%) and crisis resolution/home treatment (14%).
• There were 1,093 suicides in the general population by people aged under 18, an average of 99 deaths per year. The number increased over the report period, mainly driven by an increase in girls aged 16 and boys aged 17, and by a rise in deaths by hanging/strangulation in the under 18s.

The report contains a number of clinical messages including a call for established risk factors for suicide to form the basis of risk management, including significant dates and anniversaries which should form part of safety planning.

Read the full report: You can read the report by clicking on the link below.

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