A progress report published by the National Institute for Mental
Health in England today shows that good progress is being made
towards meeting the Government target to reduce suicide by 20 per
cent by 2010, but more can be done to bring down the suicide rate
further. The report sets out the achievements of the last 12 months
and shows:
-- the lowest overall rate of suicide amongst the general population on
record;
-- a fall in suicide rates amongst young men - continuing the downward
trend since the problem of suicides in this group first escalated
some 30 years ago;
-- a fall in the rate of self-inflicted deaths in prisons to 70 in
2005/6, a 17 per cent reduction compared with last year; and
-- a fall in the number of suicides amongst mental health in-patients
from 217 in 1997 to 154 in 2004.
The report also says that more needs to be done to reduce the number
of people in contact with mental health services who take their own
lives. The Avoidable Deaths report published last year estimated that
56 mental health patients discharged from hospital die every year
following non-compliance with medication or loss of contact with
services. Supervised Community Treatment (SCT), a measure to
improve clinical risk management that the Government is introducing
in its Mental Health Bill, has the potential to help prevent those
deaths.
Having a severe mental illness is a known risk factor of suicide and
a significant number of suicides occur during in-patient care or
shortly after discharge. Avoidable Deaths showed around 200 suicides
a year - or 14 per cent of all suicides - follow non-compliance with
treatment. Better compliance with treatment and closer supervision
were highlighted by clinicians as the main ways of reducing suicide
risk.
National Clinical Director for Mental Health Professor Louis Appleby
said:
"The overall rate of suicide amongst the general population is
continuing to fall and is the lowest on record. We are seeing
encouraging progress towards the target to reduce suicide by 20 per
cent by 2010 but is important that we maintain the momentum.
"I am very encouraged to see a further fall in the suicide rate for
young men. There is now clear evidence of a sustained fall in suicide
amongst this group.
"We are also seeing a reduction in the number of suicides amongst
mental health in-patients. However, areas of clinical practice need
to be strengthened if suicides in metal health care are to be
prevented. Two important areas are the management of risk in patients
discharged from hospital, and in patients who are non-compliant with
their treatment.
"Good clinical care needs to be backed by legal powers, and this is
why the Government is introducing Supervised Community Treatment in
the Mental Health Bill currently being debated in Parliament. SCT
will ensure that patients in the community who are at risk of suicide
will receive the treatment they need."
The report includes a number of regional examples of the National
Institute for Mental Health in England, part of the Care Services
Improvement Partnership (CSIP), working with partner agencies to
deliver on the extensive work outlined in the National Suicide
Prevention Strategy for England. They include:
-- Durham and Darlington's Multi-Agency Suicide Prevention Task Force's
research into the frequency and nature of contact with a number of
agencies, including the criminal justice system, to develop
information sharing protocols and pathways;
-- Barnsley PCT working with the Highways Agency on a study of bridge
related suicides following a number of incidents around a junction of
the M1. In partnership with the local council, and the Samaritans,
signage has been erected on six local motorway bridges and one
reservoir;
-- In the West Midlands, work with small non-statutory organisations in
the promotion of health has been identified as an important factor in
suicide prevention in rural communities; and
-- In London, the heightened risk of suicide amongst young men and those
from ethnic minority groups is being addressed by the development of
new outreach services targeted on specific ethnic groups. Local
community groups are being engaged in order to increase local
understanding of where people can access help.
The first was launched in September 2002 to support the target set in
the White Paper Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation to reduce the
death rate from suicide and undetermined injury by at least 20 per
cent by 2010. This is the fourth annual report outlining progress
made in implementing the strategy.
Suicide rates, whilst fluctuating year on year, show a downward trend
since the early 1980s. The target detailed above is to reduce the
death rate from suicide and injury (and poisoning) of undetermined
intent by at least a fifth by 2010 from a baseline rate of 9.2 deaths
per 100,000 population in 1995/6/7 to 7.3 deaths per 100,000 in
2009/10/11.
The latest available data for the three years 2003/4/5 show a rate of
8.5 deaths per 1000,000 population - a reduction of 7.4 per cent from
the 1995/6/7 baseline.
CSIP, with its eight regional development centres, works at a local
and regional level to help implement the objectives of the strategy.
The National Suicide Prevention Strategy for England Annual report on
progress 2006 is available to view online at www.nimhe.csip
More information on the Mental Health Bill
Department of Health, UK