Javid must address ‘fundamentally flawed’ suicide risk assessment tools, say Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Olney has been joined by cosignatories from across the political divide in writing to Sajid Javid, calling on the Health Secretary to urgently address ‘fundamentally flawed’ suicide risk assessment tools.

The letter’s cosignatories include Steve Mallen, Zero Suicide Alliance Co-Founder, General Sir Nick Carter, former Chief of the Defence Staff, Mind, Samaritans and Papyrus.

The letter, which has today been published in The Times today, calls on Javid to immediately address the system of “checklists” which seek to predict the likelihood of an individual taking their own life through the determination of a ‘score’.

These tools, which remain in use, form part of a system that has been described as “fundamentally flawed” by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. The tools also ignore clear guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which state that they should never be used for predictive purposes.

Sarah Olney’s constituent, Philip Pirie, tragically lost his son to suicide in 2020. Pirie’s son, Tom, 26, had been assessed as at ‘low risk of suicide’ by a mental health professional just 24 hours before his death.

According to the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health in October 2018, 17 people die every day in this country by suicide, and five of those 17 are in touch with mental health services. Four of those five, 80%, are assessed as low or no risk of suicide before they go on to take their own lives

The open letter comes as the National Suicide Prevention Advisory Group prepares to issue its recommendations for the upcoming review of the 2012 Suicide Prevention Strategy for England, and as the Government issues a ‘call for evidence’ to improve mental health.

Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Olney said: “I am proud to stand side-by-side with Philip on this incredibly important campaign. His bravery in sharing his story is so impressive, and I know his son, Tom, would be so proud.

“Suicide risk assessment reform is long overdue, and the statistics are shockingly damning. For bereaved families to know that the process used to assess a lost loved one has been described as “fundamentally flawed” is utterly heart-breaking.

“It’s clear that the scale of the problem across the country is not fully understood and, together with my co-signatories, I call upon the Health Secretary to recognise what needs to be done and take action to protect more vulnerable lives.”

Steve Mallen, Zero Suicide Alliance Co-Founder, said: “As a fellow father bereaved by suicide, I greatly applaud Philip Pirie’s bravery and initiative here and it is to be hoped that reform with regard to this critical area of clinical care will follow from his tragedy, together with that experienced by thousands of other families.

“The hard data regarding the inadequacy of suicide risk assessment methods in the health system is now overwhelming. As I know from my own personal tragedy, current methods and their application are simply not fit for purpose.

“It is a great sadness that tragedies like Philip’s and my own occur every day. With proper focus and attention, thousands of lives may be saved and the cataclysmic personal impact of suicide avoided.”