Report raises concern over higher ‘community suicide’ risk

A report carried out by the University of Manchester has warned that the number of suicides committed by people being care for in the community are more than those committed by hospital inpatients.

There are around 200 suicides a year occurring by people who are cared for by crisis teams, which is almost three times the number receiving care in hospitals. A third of this figure had been people who had been discharged from hospital in the previous fortnight, while a further third had been using the crisis service for less than a week.

Crisis resolution/home treatment (CRHT) teams are made up of psychiatrists, mental health nurses, social workers and support workers, who visit patients in their homes, administering medication and offering psychological and practical support.

Professor Louis Appleby, director of the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness (NCISH), has warned that: "Our findings suggest that we are accepting too much risk in the home treatment these teams offer and that the crisis team is now the priority for suicide prevention in mental health."

The report identified that 43 per cent of those who committed suicide lived alone, and cautioned that such people were at particular risk because a crisis team may not have been a suitable’ level of care.

Samantha Nicklin, head of campaigns at Rethink Mental Illness, said: "Every suicide is preventable. We are still losing too many brothers, sisters, parents, children and friends this way.

"While progress is being made in our understanding of how to support people with mental illness and prevent suicide, we are still seeing people struggling to get the help they need before they reach crisis point, with overstretched services and patchy care across the country."