How suicidal patients are being failed by GPs
- In 2015 a total of 4,820 men and women committed suicide in England
- HofC Health Select Committee says GPs not identifying vulnerable patients
Sophie Borland, Health Editor For The Daily Mail
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The suicide in 2011 of Wales manager and former Leeds footballer Gary Speed brought home to many people the hidden dangers of depression
GPs are not doing enough to prevent vulnerable patients from committing suicide, MPs warn today.
The UK’s suicide rates are ‘unacceptable’ and probably still underestimate the ‘true scale’ of the crisis.
Some 4,820 men and women were recorded as having ended their own lives in England in 2015, although the actual figures are probably far higher.
The suicide rate for 2014 was the worst in a decade at 10.3 per 100,000 and only fell marginally to 10.1 per 100,000 the following year.
Yet an inquiry by the Commons’ Health Select Committee warns that GPs are not identifying vulnerable patients nor referring them for specialist care.
It found that about a third of patients who commit suicide had been in contact with their GP the preceding year but not sent to a mental health specialist.
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The report also highlights how high risk patients are being missed by AE staff.
Some 40 per cent of patients who arrive at casualty departments having self-harmed are not given a psychological assessment.
The MPs call for all doctors to undergo compulsory training on assessing patients for suicide risk as part of their medical degrees.
Dr Sarah Wollaston MP, chair of the Health Select Committee said: ‘The clear message we have heard throughout our inquiry is that suicide is preventable.
‘The current rate of suicide is unacceptable and is likely to under-represent the true scale of the loss of life.
‘If the Government wishes to be truly ambitious in reducing the toll of suicide, there are many further steps which it could take, which we have set out in this report.
‘The Government must prioritise effective implementation of its strategy because without it, any strategy is of very limited value.’
Suicides affect a disproportional number of men – who account for three quarters of cases – but it is also becoming increasingly common in women.
A third of patients who commit suicide had been in contact with their GP the preceding year but not sent to a mental health specialist STOCK PHOTO (posed by model)
The rate for women in 2015 was 5.4 per 100,000, the highest since 2004.
In men it was 16.4 per 100,000 which was a slight drop from 16.6 per 100,000 in 2014.
Izzi Seccombe, chair of the Local Government Association’s Community and Wellbeing Board, warned that suicide was a ‘major national public health concern.’
‘While the overwhelming majority of councils now have a suicide prevention plan in place, even though there is no requirement for them to do so, we can only really tackle the issue alongside other public and private organisations, such as schools, railway operators, supermarkets, hospitals and police stations.
‘Suicide is preventable, but it needs to be everybody’s business to work together to tackle this tragic loss of life.’
For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details.
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