Suicide

Action Planned (AI summary) Amazon has globally restricted the sale of high concentration sodium nitrite to Amazon Business customers since October 2022 and prohibits the sale of poisons as defined under Schedule 1A of the UK Poisons Act 1972. The NPCC Suicide Prevention Steering Group has disseminated briefing materials to all NPCC force and regional suicide prevention leads regarding the emerging trend of Sodium Nitrate and Nitrite use in suicides. They have also supported the National Crime Agency's criminal investigation into the supply of Sodium Nitrite. Ofcom is implementing the Online Safety Act 2023, developing codes of practice to address illegal content and protect children, and will take enforcement action against non-compliant services, including financial penalties and business disruption measures. Google Search prevents predictions for queries relating to methods of suicide and provides prominent signposting to authoritative information and support when users search for suicide-related terms, and delists content that directly facilitates activities that could cause immediate harm. DSIT outlines how the Online Safety Act will force companies to take more accountability for the safety of their users, including those who use VPNs to bypass protections, and details Ofcom's enforcement powers for non-compliant services. DHSC leads a cross-government group to tackle emerging methods of suicide, including sodium nitrite, reducing public access, and working with retailers to ensure labeling compliance for products like curing salt.

Action Planned (AI summary) The practice will audit care plans every 6 months, request GP review earlier than 2 weeks if needed, refer to CRISIS team for deterioration, have the Clinical pharmacist assist with medication review and arrange a follow-up appointment for any patients that DNA.

Action Planned (AI summary) Ofsted has taken action to ensure inspectors are aware of the support available to school leaders, reinforcing the expectation that they share this information at the beginning of an inspection and ensuring this information is included in documents shared with providers. They will also use existing channels to share information about support for leaders. The Department for Education will write to all Responsible Bodies setting out their responsibilities and committing to working closely with local authorities and academy trusts to ensure school leaders are well supported, particularly following an adverse inspection result. DfE officials will ask the Responsible Body of the school to ensure that appropriate support is in place to support the headteacher and broader school’s workforce where a school faces an adverse inspection judgement. Reading Borough Council, through Brighter Futures for Children Ltd, has consulted with head teachers and will proactively challenge Ofsted inspections on a school's behalf. They have already written to school leaders, have written into the School Effectiveness Framework the Council’s approach to challenging an inspection, and appointed reviewers to conduct an independent learning review.

Action Planned (AI summary) The Department of Health and Social Care is prioritising updating the Autism Act statutory guidance to support the NHS and local authorities to deliver improved outcomes for autistic people. They expect to publish the updated draft Statutory Guidance for public consultation this year.

Action Planned (AI summary) The Trust acknowledges bed availability issues and highlights ongoing work with system partners and the ICB. Planned actions include continuing to work with system partners and developing a business case for new acute hospital capacity with additional wards. NHS Birmingham and Solihull ICB acknowledge BSMHFT's actions and state that they are working collaboratively to increase mental health inpatient bed capacity, with a business case for a new build supported in principle. The Department of Health and Social Care acknowledges concerns about psychiatric bed capacity in Birmingham and Solihull. They note BSMHFT's 12-month project to address bed shortages, the implementation of a locality model, and progress in developing bed capacity.

Action Planned (AI summary) NHS England will explore the functionality of the Health and Justice Information Service (HJIS) to flag medication non-compliance and work to facilitate roll out across the estate. In the interim, regional teams will be reminded of the requirement to monitor uncollected medicines.

Action Planned (AI summary) DePaul UK outlines steps to ensure staff recognise warning signs as a deterioration in mental health, make continued escalation and referrals, and ensure staff are well inducted, trained, managed and supported, will also ensure that individual case reviews continue alongside wider organisational reviews following serious incidents.

Action Planned (AI summary) NHS England is working to enhance the sharing of patient information to and from VCSE and other independent sector providers commissioned by NHS organisations through Local Shared Care Records. The Getting It Right First Time Programme will also focus on risk assessment tools and family voice from 2024. The Langford Centre has implemented new procedures including mandatory recording of consent to speak with family, inviting family members to multidisciplinary meetings, and company-wide training updates on referral processes.

Action Planned (AI summary) The Psychiatric Liaison Team will be changing their local protocols to strengthen prompts to help remind clinicians how best to approach the subject of sharing information with patients' families. The Trust will raise awareness of this area via a specific newsletter article issued to Trust staff by March 2024.