Tackling prison suicides

The rate of suicide among prisoners has risen in recent years despite the fact that the suicide rate among the rest of the population has fallen. A study of 264 prisoners in four prisons has found that those judged to be at a high risk of self-harm or suicide had a significantly higher rate of mental illness than other prisoners and that there was a high level of suicide risk which had not been identified by the prison authorities. The study also found problems with the delivery of healthcare to at-risk prisoners and difficulties in the documentation of those prisoners' mental health issues and the researchers called for the care-planning and information-sharing processes within prisons and between prisons and other agencies to be improved.

Senior, Jane ... [et al] - The identification and management of suicide risk in local prisons The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology 18(3), 2007, 368-380