Implementing changes after patient suicides in mental health services: A systematic review

Colette Ramsey*, Karen Galway, Gavin Davidson

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)
100 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Suicides by mental health patients account for around a quarter of all suicides (Walby et al, 2018). Within services a range of approaches have been developed and imple- mented to reduce the risk of patient suicides. After every patient death by suicide, a review is carried out to identify recommendations which may assist in prevent- ing future suicides. It is therefore important to identify the most effective methods for implementing these recommendations. The objective of this systematic review, completed in Northern Ireland, was to identify how recommendations from Serious Adverse Incident (SAI) reviews can be effectively implemented to contribute to reduc- ing deaths by suicide within mental health services. Eleven electronic databases were searched for relevant work from 1 January 2005–30 November 2020. Quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods studies were included. A narrative synthesis was car- ried out of published and unpublished work on the effectiveness of implementing recommendations, after a death by suicide in mental health services. The review, which includes 41 published papers and reports, found that the literature is focused on producing recommendations to reduce future risk of suicide in mental health ser- vices. There is a lack of focus on the extent and effectiveness of the implementation of these. Recommendations have often not been tested or operationalised, limiting the translational value of these contributions. Leadership and culture are also identi- fied as key drivers for change in mental health services. This review demonstrates that high quality research is being complete in this area, however, the majority of published research presents recommendations from reviews of mental health patient suicides. There is a lack of research focusing on implementing recommendations and evaluation of implementation, once recommendations have been made.
Original languageEnglish
Number of pages17
JournalHealth and Social Care in the Community
Early online date24 Mar 2021
DOIs
Publication statusEarly online date - 24 Mar 2021

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