The NHS and the wider state has been becoming less accepting of the inevitability of suicide since the 90s. Current suicide statistics run back to 1981. The National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness was established in 1992. A milestone was the World Health Organisation’s “Prevention of suicide: Guidelines for the formulation and implementation of national strategies” 1996. This work carried on under New Labour and with the Coalition and subsequent governments, for instance the 2012 Suicide prevention strategy for England specifically identified “people in the care of mental health services, including inpatients” as a priority.
In its latest annual report the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health shows that the NHS in England succeeded in halving the suicide rate among mental health service users from 98.5 per 100,000 service users in 2010 to 47.2 in 2020, a reduction of 52%.
Phil Taylor 