No evidence of weekend increase in mental health patient suicide

08 Jul 2016

Study prompted by government policy to work towards full ‘seven-day NHS’

A new University study, prompted by current government policy for a ‘seven-day NHS’, has found that suicide deaths by mental health patients are actually lower at the weekends.

A current government policy priority is to extend health services to a full ‘seven-day NHS’, partly due to claims that patients admitted at the weekend are more likely to die because of lack of specialist staffing and services.

The new paper, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, is one of the first to explore the weekend effect in mental health. In contrast to previous studies of all hospital deaths, the paper found that the incidence of suicide was 12-15 percent lower at the weekend. The study was carried out by researchers at the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide.

Study lead Professor Nav Kapur, from the Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences and the Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust, said: “We wanted to explore a possible weekend effect on patient suicide.

“We looked at specific groups being treated in hospital or the community who might be particularly vulnerable to changes in care.

“We actually found a markedly reduced suicide risk at the weekend. We also found a reduced risk in people who were admitted at the weekend.”

Here he explains the study further:

The researchers analysed 5,613 suicide deaths in England between 2001 and 2013. They examined deaths by suicide in inpatients, those who had been discharged from psychiatric hospital within the previous three months and those under the care of crisis resolution home treatment teams. By looking at the deaths and the days they occurred, they found that in all groups, suicide was less likely to occur at the weekend.