Utility of local suicide data for informing local and national suicide prevention strategies.

OBJECTIVES

The practice of 'suicide audit' refers to the systematic collection of local data on suicides in order to learn lessons and inform suicide prevention plans. Little is known about the utility of this activity. The aim of this study was to ascertain from Directors of Public Health in England how they were conducting suicide audit and what resources they were investing in it; how the findings were being used, and how the process might be improved.

STUDY DESIGN

E-mail survey.

METHODS

A questionnaire was sent to all 153 Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in England prior to their dissolution in 2013. Simple descriptive statistics were performed in an Excel database.

RESULTS

Responses were received from 49% of PCTs, of which 83% were conducting a regular audit of deaths by suicide. Many had worked hard to overcome procedural obstacles and were investing huge amounts of time and effort in collecting data, but it is not clear that the findings were being translated effectively into action. With few exceptions, PCTs were unable to demonstrate that the findings of local audits had influenced their suicide prevention plans.

CONCLUSIONS

In the light of fresh calls for the practice of suicide audit to be made mandatory in England, these results are worrying. The study suggests that there is a pressing need for practical guidance on how the findings of local suicide audits can be put to use, and proposes a framework within which such guidance could be developed.