Manchester academic to help develop national guidelines for preventing suicide

04 Aug 2016

Professor Nav Kapur from the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health has been appointed Topic Expert Member on the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) public health advisory committee responsible for developing the national guidelines for preventing suicide in the community

Professor Kapur who is Head of Suicide Research in the Faculty’s Centre for Mental Health and Safety, is also Chair of the NICE Depression Guideline and has previously chaired NICE’s self-harm guidelines.

On his latest appointment, Professor Kapur said: “I’m so pleased to have been appointed as the Topic Expert on this guideline. I’ve really enjoyed my roles with NICE over the past few years, being involved in producing national guidance is a real privilege, especially in an area as important as suicide prevention.”

He added: “We have a world-leading centre for suicide research at the University, but for me the research is only helpful when it directly impacts on the care that patients get. That’s where the NICE guidelines come in.”

The guideline will be used to develop the NICE quality standard for suicide prevention and is aimed at people who hold a strategic role in assessing and planning local suicide prevention in a variety of organisational settings including mental health and community services, NHS, local authority and third sector organisations, police, emergency services, rail and car parking providers.