An organisational response to an increase in suicides: a case study

Abstract

2014),"Suicide risk in the UK trans population and the role of gender transition in decreasing suicidal ideation and suicide attempt"If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/ authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -This paper seeks to describe the development of a real time suicide alert system and to identify how, as a result, organisations were able to respond in a timely way to an increasing trend in suicides within the County Durham and Darlington area.Design/methodology/approach -Between October 2008 and August 2009 an unprecedented concentration of suicides occurred in County Durham, North East England. As a result, an independent review of these deaths was conducted in 2009/2010. Recommendations from the review were implemented and included the development of a real time suicide alert system.Findings -Following implementation of the real time suicide alert system in autumn 2010 a further significant concentration of cases was immediately identified. A total of 24 deaths were identified between September and December 2010. There was a wide geographical spread across County Durham and Darlington. The case profiles revealed a number of risk factors including recent bereavement, relationship difficulties and financial problems. In addition sleeplessness, low mood and problems associated with housing were also identified. Men under the age of 50 years accounted for over 63 per cent of the cases. An organisational response in County Durham and Darlington was triggered by the information provided via the real time alert. The response was framed by the case profiles, evidence from the literature and lessons learned from other areas in the UK that had also experienced an escalation of suicide cases. In January 2011 there were no further potential suicides in County Durham and Darlington and the three-month rolling average number of suicides returned to below expected limits, and this remains the case as of December 2011. No direct correlation between the work of the response team across County Durham and Darlington and rate of suicides resuming within normal limits can be claimed, indeed many of the initiatives are still being evaluated but the organisation now has much better control over the ability to respond, characterised by timely evidence base...

Police-led real-time surveillance system for suspected suicides in Great Britain

“…Real-time monitoring can be effective at both local and national levels. For example, in County Durham, in the north of England, a real-time system was introduced in 2010, in response to an increase in suicides in the area in the previous year 23. Here, early information on potential suicides was provided by coroners’ offices to the primary healthcare trust, leading to a coordinated multiorganisational response that included awareness raising, training of front-line staff and targeted mental health and postvention support.…”

“…For example, in County Durham, in the north of England, a real-time system was introduced in 2010, in response to an increase in suicides in the area in the previous year. 23 Here, early information on potential suicides was provided by coroners’ offices to the primary healthcare trust, leading to a coordinated multiorganisational response that included awareness raising, training of front-line staff and targeted mental health and postvention support. While local systems allow for such bespoke responses, national systems also enable comparisons to be made between geographical areas to assess whether observed changes in suicide rates or characteristics are part of a wider trend or specific to a local area.…”