Mental health patients pose high suicide risk in first two weeks after discharge, inquiry finds

Mental health patients are at the highest risk of suicide in the first three months after their discharge from hospital, especially in the first two weeks, latest figures have shown.1

The National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness found that, from 2002 to 2012, 3225 suicides by mental health patients occurred in the United Kingdom within three months of discharge, equal to 18% of all patient suicides.

The inquiry, commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership, found that the highest …