Centre for Suicide Prevention: News
May 2012
- 17 May - Psychiatric units safer as in-patient suicide falls
Suicides by psychiatric in-patients have fallen to a new low, the latest National Confidential Inquiry research has found. The study, one of very few to look at trends over time, shows the rate of suicide among psychiatric in-patients fell by between 29% and 31% between 1997 and 2008 with nearly 100 fewer deaths per year.
March 2012
- 13th March National Study of Presentations to General Hospitals: Conference announced. In England and Wales there are at least 200,000 self-harm presentations (intentional self-poisoning or self-injury) to general hospital each year, and for the past six years the Manchester Self-Harm project has been participating in a pioneering series of related studies on the epidemiology, causes, clinical management, outcome and prevention of self-harm. A conference has been arranged in Derby UK where the findings from this innovative national collaborative study will be shared with clinicians who encounter self-harm and suicide in mental health and general hospital settings, liaison psychiatric staff and those who plan, commission and manage services, and psychiatric and public health researchers. For further details click here.
February 2012
- 2nd February - Better NHS services reduce suicide rates
A National Confidential Inquiry study published in The Lancet has for the first time shown a positive link between improvements in mental health services and a reduction in suicide rates. Using nine national recommendations for safer services our researchers compared the rates of suicide in NHS Mental Health Trusts before and after the recommendations were adopted. Those that adopted many saw bigger suicide rate reductions. The recommendations that produced the biggest reduction in suicide rates, when implemented, were the introduction of 24-hour crisis teams, policies for drug and alcohol misuse, and multi-disciplinary reviews after a suicide.
January 2012
- 10th January The importance of research undertaken by the National Confidential Inquiry into suicide and homicide and the Multi-Centre Study of Self-Harm in England was highlighted in Parliament today during Health Minister’s questions. In response to a question by the Hon Madeleine Moon MP, Health Minister Paul Burstow acknowledged the importance of research into the causes, effects and geographical spread of suicide and its frequent precursor, self-harm. Mr Burstow confirmed that Both the NCI and the Manchester Self-Harm Project (which is a key participant in the Multi-Centre Study of Self-Harm in England are based in the Centre for Suicide Prevention at the University of Manchester. Last year the Government launched its updated National Suicide Prevention Strategy, and Mr Bustow agreed to meet with Mrs Moon and research project leads whilst examining the research priorities to support the new strategy. Click here to see the Hansard record of the debate
November 2011
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23 November Professor Nav Kapur chaired the group that developed the new NICE guidelines on the longer term management of self-harm published today.
October 2011
- Dr Mohammad Rahman to present at the 7th Annual Suicide Prevention Symposium at the Department of Psychiatry, Penn Hospital, Wolverhampton. The presentation is entitled 'The National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness: Recent Findings and Future Directions'.
- 3rd October The MaSH Project has been joined today by Dr Matthew Haigh who is taking over as Project Manager and by Harriet Bickley who joins the team as a Research Assistant. Matthew completed his Ph.D. in cognitive psychology at the School of Psychological Sciences and has expertise in the areas of reasoning, communication and decision making. Harriet joins the team from the National Confidential Inquiry where her interests included a case control study identifying risk factors for suicide of inpatients and post-discharge patients.
September 2011
- 29 September Work by University of Manchester researchers working in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Oxford and Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust compared risk factors for deaths given verdicts of suicide and accidental death following self-harm. Dr Jayne Cooper, a co-author of the publication in Psychological Medicine said "This research was novel in comparing risk factors for those who die from suicide following self-harm to those who receive a verdict of accidental death. The study provides evidence that there are shared risk factors for suicide and accidental death, as well as some features more distinct to suicide risk. Differences may be related to the criteria that guide coroners' verdicts." The summary of the paper and link to the full journal article can be found on this website at: MaSH Publications
- 28 September Dr Kirsten Windfuhr to present at the University of Sheffield's Academic Clinical Psychiatry Research Seminar at the Longley Centre, Northern General Hospital, Sheffield. The presentation is entitled 'The National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness: Recent Findings and Future Directions'.
- 13-17 September Professor Nav Kapur invited to speak at the 26th International Association for Suicide Prevention Conference, Beijing. Professor Kapur's presentation is entitled 'Health services and suicide prevention: past, present and future'.
- 1 September Management of the Inquiry transferred to the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP). Further information available here.
July 2011
- 19 July The Inquiry's 2011 annual report for England, Wales and Scotland available today from this website. Download a copy here: 2011 Annual Report Press Release
- 8th July The latest MaSH research study 'First episode of self-harm in older age: a report from the 10-year prospective Manchester Self-Harm project' has been published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. Self-harm is closely related to completed suicide, especially in older age. As empirical research of self-harm in older age is scarce, with no studies confined to first-ever episodes in older age, we examined the clinical characteristics and the risk of repetition in first-ever self-harm in older age.
Dr Nitin Purandare, Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist was the senior author on this paper in collaboration with the MaSH research team. Dr Purandare was quoted as saying 'over a half of all older people who present to a hospital with self-harm are presenting with the first episode and the rate of repetition is lower but repetition is more often fatal among older people presenting with the first episode of self harm.'
For full details of this and other MaSH Reseach and Audits click here.
June 2011
- 29 June The Inquiry's latest major report 'Suicide and Homicide in Northern Ireland' is now available. To download a copy of the full report and executive summary please click on the links below.
- 28 June-1 July Professor Appleby to receive and Honorary Award from the at the 40th Anniversary International Congress of the Royal College of Psychiatrist in Brighton. Dr Mohammad Rahman wil be presenting on Suicide in Vulnerable Groups.
- 16 June Professor Louis Appleby spoke about the Inquiry's findings on suicide and homicide at a Clinical Risk Update meeting organised by Hampshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Eastleigh.
May 2011
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13th May - The Manchester Self-Harm Project (MaSH) have published the latest report on self-harm in Manchester for the period 2008 and 2009. The report provides information on the social, demographic and clinical characteristics of self-harming individuals together with characteristics of self-harm episodes and their management in the Emergency Department.
Dr Jayne Cooper, Head of Research for MaSH, said "The rate of self-harm in Manchester has been declining steadily since 2003. Overall rates have continued to decline in 2008 and 2009, however, the rate of self-harm has increased for some male age groups. There has been a significant increase in the self-harm rate amongst males aged 35+ between 2008 and 2009, and in 2008 and 2009 males aged 15 to 24 had the highest rate of self-harm among males overall."
April 2011
- 18 April Professor Jenny Shaw gave a presentation on 'Mental Health in the Criminal Justice System' as part of South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust's National Speaker Programme, at St George's Hospital, Staffordshire.
March 2011
- 14-16 March Professor Nav Kapur gave the presentation 'Use of innovative technologies in suicide prevention' at the United States Department of Defense and Veteran's Affairs conference on Suicide Prevention, Hynes Convention Centre, Boston, Massachusetts
February 2011
- 2 - 4 February Professor Louis Appleby gave the conference key note speech 'Developments in Offender Mental Health' and Professor Nav Kapur presented 'Self-harm and Suicide' as a clinical training session at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Faculty of Forensic Psychiatry Annual Conference, Berlin, Germany.
- 2 February Dr Shaiyan Rahman gave a presentation about the Inquiry at a Special Lecture Series organised by the University of Edinburgh.
January 2011
- 18 January Dr Shaiyan Rahman gave a presentation on the research of the Inquiry at a Research Seminar organised by Somerset Partnership NHS Trust.
- Research award update: The National Patient Safety Agency has awarded the Inquiry the contract to deliver the Mental Health element of its Clinical Outcome Review Programme.
November 2010
- 23rd November Dr Kirsten Windfuhr presented Inquiry findings on alcohol and suicide to the Scottish Association for Mental Health Winter Conference, Glasgow Marriott, Glasgow.
October 2010
- 29th October, the Inquiry's second report into independent investigations following homicide published. To read the report click here.
September 2010
- 29th September, Dr Shayian Rahman presented at the Health and Social Care Advisory Service colloquium Independent Homicide Investigations: Conflicts, Challanges and Opportunities in London.
- 10th September, to mark International Suicide Prevention Day, Professor Nav Kapur, Dr Alyson Williams and Dr Isabelle Hunt presented at the Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust Suicide Prevention Effectiveness Day, Longford Sports Stadium, Chorlton cum Hardy, Manchester
- 1st - 4th September, Professor Nav Kapur chaired a symposium at the 13th European Symposium on Suicide and Suicidal Behaviour in Rome. There were two Inquiry posters (i) The timing of suicide, by Dr David While; (ii) Receipt of treatment by people with depressive disorder: a national clinical survey, Pauline Turnbull.
July 2010
- Annual Report for England and Wales June 2010. Report Key findings Press release
June 2010
- Professor Louis Appleby gave a presentation about the research of the Inquiry at the conference 'Enhancing understandings and improving practice', University of Sussex, Brighton.
- Professor Louis Appleby addressed an event examining the reporting of mental illness and risk of violence by the press. Delegates included senior editorial staff and crime correspondents. The event was jointly organised by Shift and the Royal College of Psychiatrists. For more information about Shift and their work to tackle stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness click here.
May 2010
- Professor Jenny Shaw hosted a symposium on the Homicide findings of the National Confidential Inquiry at the International Association of Forensic Mental Health Services Annual Conference in Vancouver. Presentations include Timing of homicide: the temporal patterns of homicide offences presented by Alison Roscoe, A population based study of juvenile perpetrators of homicide in England and Wales presented by Cathryn Rodway, Victims of homicide with mental illness presented by Damian Da Cruz and Filicide presented by Sandra Flynn. click here
April 2010
- 15th April Visit by Dr Frederick Walberg and Dr Ewa Ness from the National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention at the University of Oslo. The focus of the visit was to discuss Inquiry methodology.
March 2010
- 24th March 2010 Professor Louis Appleby announced as the first National Clinical Director for Health and Criminal Justice. For more information click here.
- 20th to 24th March 2010 Professor Nav Kapur visited the Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand as the 2010 Chad Buckle Fellow. Workshops and discussions included: 'Can mental health services prevent suicide?' and 'Managing self-harm in hospital settings' and 'Risk and mental health services'. On Friday 24th March he gave the Chad Buckle Fellowship: Public Lecture 'Suicidal Behaviour: Causes and Prevention'. For more about Professor Kapur and the Chad Buckle Fellowship click here.
February 2010
- 5th to 11th February 2010 Professor Louis Appleby was invited to present a series of lectures on mental healthy reform and suicide prevention in Japan. Including:
'Mental Health Reform and Schizophrenia in England' - 6th Annual Meeting of the Research Group for Schizophrenia.
'Recent mental health service reform: results and future vision' - Tokyo, Training Course Conference hosted by the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology (JSPN); also Osaka & Kobe.
'Suicide Prevention in England', hosted by the Japanese National Suicide Prevention Centre.
January 2010
- 28th January 2010 Dr Anna Pearson presenting findings from the Inquiry's study of independent investigations following homicide at 'Embedding the Learning in Mental Health' organised by NHS London.
- 27th & 28th January 2010 Visit by Norwegian Government Commission on behalf of the Ministry of Health and Care Services to learn more about the work of the Inquiry.
December 2009
- 10th & 11th December 2009 Professor Louis Appleby attended 'Prevention of Depression and Suicide - Making it Happen' organised jointly by the Ministry of Health (Hungary) and DG Health and Consumers and in collaboration with the World Health organisation, Budapest.
November 2009
- 26th November 2009 Dr Kirsten Windfuhr, gave keynote presentation on the work of the Inquiry. 'Curious Minds' Research Conference organised by the Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.
- 25th November 2009 Professor Louis Appleby, gave the keynote presentation 'Suicide and Homicide: The challenge of prevention'. At the 2nd National Reporting and Learning Service Mental Health Conference, National Patient Safety Agency.
- 24th November 2009 Professor Nav Kapur present the Inquiry's recent findings on suicide among young veterans at the Combat Stress conference, Manchester Conference Centre.
- 13th November 2009 Professor Appleby presented 'National Confidential Inquiries into Suicides and Homicides' at the Joint Meeting of CPsychI/European Division (RCPsych), Croke Park Stadium, Dublin.
- 9th & 10th November 2009 Dr Anna Pearson presented 'Independent investigations after homicide by People with Mental Illness' at the Patient Safety Summit 2009, organised by the Leeds Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.
October 2009
- 1st & 2nd October 2009 Professor Appleby attended the World Health Organisation 'Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP)', Geneva, Switzerland. More information.
July 2009
- Annual Report for England and Wales July 2009. Press release Full report
- 4th International Conference on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology. Roehampton University, London - 13th to 14th July 2009. Inquiry presentations: 'A population-based study of juvenile perpetrators of homicide in England and Wales', Ms Cathy Rodway; 'Suicide in children and adolescents in the UK', Dr Kirsten Windfuhr.
June 2009
- National Patient Safety Agency: Rapid Response Report - Preventing harm to children by parentls with mental health needs. Issued to mental health trust Chief Executives May 2009. More information:Rapid Response Report; RRR supporting information.
- Professor Louis Appleby invited as keynote speaker at Substance misuse, mental health and offending meeting. Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and Sussex Police, Slaugham Manor, West Sussex - 5th June 2009.
- Professor Louis Appleby presented 'Public safety and inquiry culture'. Royal College of Psychiatrists AGM - 4th June 2009.
May 2009
- Inquiry publication: Suicide pacts in the mentally ill: A national clinical survey. Hunt, IM., While, D., Windfuhr, K.,Swinson, N., Shaw, J., Appleby, L. & Kapur, N. Psychiatry Research (2009) 167, pp131-138. For abstract see Inquiry publications 2009.
April 2009
- The 42nd Annual Conference of the American Association of Suicidology. San Francisco, USA – 15th to 18th April 2009. Inquiy presentation “Suicide and Occupation in People with Mental Illness”, Ms Pauline Turnbull
March 2009
- Inquiry publication: Suicide after leaving the UK armed forces - a cohort study: Kapur, N, While, D, Blatchley, N, Bray, I & Harrison, K; PLOS Medicine (2009): Vol 6, Issue 3. Press release.
- Professor Louis Appleby gave a Keynote Presentation at the Men's Mental Health Conference on 3rd March 2009 organised by The University of Reading, Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and the Charlie Waller Institue. Professor Appleby will present "New Horizon's: What next on Mental Health Reform". More information.
January 2009
- Professor Louis Appleby invited to lecture at the The Chinese University of Hong Kong. The two lectures were entitled 'The National Suicide Prevention Strategy in England' and 'Can Mental Health Services Prevent Suicide?'
December 2008
- Professor Nav Kapur gave the keynote presentation at a National Suicide Research Foundation seminar, "Identifying High Risk Groups to Prevent Suicide - The National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide in the UK" University College Cork, Ireland.
November 2008
- Professor Louis Appleby CBE presented at the National Patient Safety Agency conference ‘Patient Safety in Mental Health: Driving Seven Steps for Safer Services’, Leeds, 26th November. More information.
October 2008
- Inquiry Publication: Suicide by Juveniles and Adoloescents in the United Kingdom: Windfuhr K, While D, Hunt I, Turnbull P, Lowe R, Burns J, Swinson N, Shaw J, Appleby L, Kapur N and the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness; The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry: 49:11 (2008), pp 1155–1165
The paper reports a declining rate of young suicide between 1997 and 2003. For further information see press release.
- Professor Louis Appleby invited to give presentation on suicide prevention at the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, Lausanne, 15th October.
- Ethnicity findings presented in Hong Kong. Dr Jayne Cooper, Head of Research for the Manchester Self-Harm Project is to present some key findings from the project's work on ethnicity to the 3rd Asia Pacific Regional Conference of the International Association for Suicide Prevention.
- MaSH Publication: Communication between secondary and primary care following self-harm: are National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines being met? Cooper, J; Murphy, EK; Jordan, R; Mackway-Jones, K
September 2008
- Key Note speech to Samaritans Annual Conference (University of York, UK, 19th-21st September) given by Professor Nav Kapur. For more information on the work of the Samaritans please click on the following link: The Samaritans
June 2008
- Report for the Scottish Government:National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness: Lessons for mental health care in Scotland'.
The Inquiry's fourth major report focusing on suicide and homicide in Scotland. The full report, summary report and press release are available as PDFs to download.
- MaSH Publication: Hospital care and repetition following self-harm: multicentre comparison of self-poisoning and self-injury.
Journal or book title: Br J Psychiatry Lilley, R; Owens, D; Horrocks, J; House, A; Noble, R; Bergen, H; Hawton, K; Casey, D; Simkin, S; Murphy, EEK; Cooper, J; Kapur, NN
