
Support for improving community-based care for self-harm
We have been commissioned by NHS England and NHS Improvement to support 12 areas in England to improve community-based services and care for people who self-harm. Together with experts from the Manchester Self-Harm Project (MaSH) and NIHR Greater Manchester Patient Safety Translational Research Centre (PSTRC), we will support participating areas by providing:
- Expert knowledge of current self-harm data and research;
- Guidance on national guidelines and recommendations for the care of people who self-harm;
- Advise on methods of data collection to monitor and evaluate the impact of service changes for people who self-harm;
- An online resource to gather useful information in an easily accessible format.
This is part of a national programme funded by NHS England and NHS Improvement linked to establishing new and integrated models of primary and community mental health care across England. Read more about this collaboration here. This work is commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) and funded by NHS England and NHS Improvement.
Reducing suicides: Quality improvement and patient safety
We are working with experts in Quality Improvement at the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (NCCMH) to support Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STPs) to strengthen their local suicide prevention quality improvement plans. This is part of a nationally recognised suicide reduction priority across Department of Health, NHS England, and an overall Mental Health Five Year Forward View recommendation to reduce the suicide rate by 10% by 2020/21.
Together with NCCMH, we are working with Quality Improvement teams in each STP to:
- review their services against established guidelines and recommendations, and improve the quality of care they offer, using bespoke data provided from the NCISH database, benchmarked against the national average;
- provide expert knowledge of suicide prevention in three priority areas - mental health secondary care, services for self-harm, and middle-aged men;
- identify and help STPs adopt and embed national evidence including NCISH "10 ways to improve patient safety" into local quality improvement plans;
- advise on local data collection and suicide prevention plans.
The study is commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP).
In May 2019, NCISH were winners of a 2019 Making a Difference award for social responsibility.
Click here for a video explaining our work on suicide prevention.
Read our March 2020 update on the national suicide prevention programme in this blog, by NCISH researchers Nicola Richards and Cathryn Rodway.
Read a blog on our work with NCCMH to help local areas improve suicide prevention plans, by the NCISH project manager, Dr Pauline Turnbull.
Download a summary of how we help local areas improve suicide prevention plans.
Read a blog on NCISH's contribution to suicide prevention during COVID-19, by NCISH researcher Nicola Richards.
Suicide by middle-aged men
Middle-aged men have the highest suicide rate in the UK but are often not in contact with services. This study will combine multiple sources of information to examine factors related to suicide in this hard-to-reach group, including barriers to accessing services. More specifically, the objectives of the study are:
- to examine the characteristics of middle-aged men who die by suicide;
- to determine how frequently suicide is preceded by factors that are more often associated with suicide by men than by women (e.g. masculinities, socio-economic position, social disconnectedness, reluctance to seek help for both mental and physical health);
- to examine the role of support services;
- to make recommendations to strengthen suicide prevention for middle-aged men.
The study is commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) and a report will be published in 2021.
Current collaborations and associated projects
We work collaboratively with national and international academic and health colleagues in the area of suicide prevention research. Our ongoing projects are listed below.
Suicide in former service personnel
A two-year study working with the Ministry of Defence to investigate suicide amongst those who have left the UK Armed Forces, and to make comparisons with serving personnel and the general population. This study will update our previous work from 2009, which showed although the overall rate of suicide was not greater than that in the general population, the risk of suicide in young men who had left the Armed Forces was 2-3 times higher than in the same age groups in the general population. It will also extend it by collecting data on the factors associated with suicide from official sources (e.g. coroners’ records). The study is funded jointly by the Ministry of Defence, NHS England and NHS Improvement.
Suicide Information Database Cymru (SID-Cymru) and NCISH database linkage study
Evaluation of the Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust Zero Suicide initiative
Watch a video of Professor Louis Appleby talking about the Zero Suicide initiative
Safety in marginalised groups
The impact of suicide in the UK
A survey-based study conducted in collaboration with the Support after Suicide Partnership (SASP) to better understand the impact of suicide on people’s lives, including the support received.
- Read the study's report "From grief to hope: the collective voices of people bereaved and affected by suicide in the UK".
All our research projects
More information on our research projects can be found within the University’s Research Explorer.