Staying safe from suicide: Best practice guidance for safety assessment, formulation and management

Staying safe from suicide: Best practice guidance for safety assessment, formulation and management supports the government’s work to reduce suicide and improve mental health services. It applies to all mental health practitioners in England who work in community and inpatient settings.

It encourages a more person-focused and holistic approach to safety planning. This is instead of relying on risk prediction tools, which aren’t always accurate because suicidal thoughts can change quickly. It suggests understanding each person’s unique situation and focusing on how to keep them safe.

Diagram showing the three elements of safety planning: 1) Safety assessment (Explore): engage, listen, validate with compassion and acceptance, gather past, present, and future risk information, support realistic hope. 2) Safety formulation (Map): create a shared understanding of current safety problems and factors influencing them. 3) Safety management and planning (Act and plan): assess need for immediate action, involve others if needed, and develop a collaborative safety plan with ongoing review.
A structured approach for safety planning in collaboration with others.
View Guidance