The profile aims to help develop an understanding of suicide at a local level and to support an intelligence-driven approach to suicide prevention. The profile collates and presents a wide range of data, developed from a variety of relevant, robust sources. The profile provides a set of tools that allow planners, providers and stakeholders to profile their area and benchmark against similar populations. The aim is to provide information for improvement, not judgement.
Tool structure
The suicide prevention profiling tool brings together a range of data, presented in the form of indicators, which are divided into three topic areas:
- Suicide data
- Related risk factors
- Related service contacts
A number of geographies are available with which to view each indicator and these include NHS geographies such as clinical commissioning group (CCG), integrated care board (ICB), and local government geographies such as upper tier local authority (UTLA) and regions, as well as England level data.
Supporting information
The mental health intelligence network provides a range of additional intelligence products with which to assist health professionals in key decision-making. The range of information, when used alongside the profile may enable and improve decisions about local services:
- The Suicide prevention profile updates provides statistical briefings on suicide, associated prevalence, risk factors and service contact among groups at increased risk.
- The near to real time suspected suicide surveillance system for England (nRTSSS) provides an early warning system for changes in patterns of deaths by suicide to enable appropriate intervention.
- The government recommends developing a local action plan for suicide prevention. The local action plan supports the Suicide prevention strategy for England: 2023 to 2028. Since April 2019, all Local Authorities in England have suicide prevention plans in place.
Contact us
For enquiries and feedback relating to the mental health intelligence profiles, please email: mhin@dhsc.gov.uk