[Skip to content]

Change colour Grey on white Black on yellow
Birmingham and Solihull Mental health NHS Foundation Trust
Better Together
.

Good practice at BSMHFT highlighted in national report on suicide prevention

Published: 11/09/2018

Examples of good practice at Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust are part of a new national report on suicide prevention.

NHS Resolution, the body that deals with compensation claims to the NHS, is calling for improvements and better integration across the NHS and mental health services to ensure at risk patients are given more support and care.  This follows a thematic review of suicide-related claims.

The report, Learning from suicide-related claims: a thematic review of NHS Resolution data, was launched to coincide with World Suicide Prevention Day and examines some of the factors that contribute to suicide claims and the quality of investigations following these tragic incidents.To reduce the risk of suicide-related incidents and to improve the response of trusts, NHS Resolution has made nine recommendations for NHS trusts and national bodies.

The recommendations highlight potential learning for those delivering mental health services in England. Where recommendations explicitly reference bodies external to NHS Resolution, we have worked with them to agree the relevant recommendation and are grateful for their support and commitment to action them.

swirl 181 x 181
Working in partnership with organisations including the Royal College of Psychiatrists, NHS England, NHS Improvement, Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service, and families and staff members affected by suicide, the study draws on the unique dataset held by NHS Resolution to explore best practice and key areas such as:
  • the shared clinical characteristics of those endingtheir lives by suicide that result in a claim for compensation; and
  • how well families, carers and staff are supported following suicide;
  • and the investigation process.


BSMHFT’s Meriden Family Programme, ‘Digital Ward’ therapeutic observations app and SIAS substance misuse partnership in Solihull are cited as examples of good practice in the report.

Psychiatry/mental health claims represented 320 (3 per cent) of clinical claims by number in 2017/18, and accounted for just 2 per cent of the total value of new claims reported. However, these cases are devastating for all involved: individuals, their families and carers and often the NHS staff that are involved in their care.