Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) is an NHS Foundation Trust that provides a range of services including mental health, learning disability, older adults, children’s and community physical health services. Services are provided across a range of settings including inpatient psychiatric units, community-based services and on an outpatient basis.

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Our work in suicide prevention

NHFT provides a wide range of mental health and other services, all of which can contribute towards the reduction of suicide. Services include primary care psychological therapies services such as IAPT, as well as a range of secondary care services such as community mental health teams, inpatient mental health services, and specialist services such as personality disorder and early intervention in psychosis teams. The Trust also provides support for families who have been bereaved by suicide, and this is often part of the process of investigating and learning from serious incidents involving suicide. Reducing the risk of suicide and supporting people to stay safe is a core aspect of what NHFT is trying to achieve, and has direct links to many aspects of the organisations work.

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Our current priorities

We hope to move away from professionally-led ‘risk assessment’ and towards collaborative safety planning in recognition that traditional risk assessments are poor at predicting future behaviour.

Based on national and local guidance and data, to improve our awareness and performance with regards to the involvement of families and carers in relation to the provision of care in general and suicide prevention specifically. This will be supported with specific, co-produced and co-delivered training for clinical staff.

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Our current challenges

Current challenges include integrating NHFT into a countywide suicide prevention strategy, as Northamptonshire lacks a cross-agency approach, making collaboration and alignment across the county difficult. Internally, achieving widespread engagement and implementing changes in key aspects of the suicide prevention strategy remain significant hurdles. Additionally, there is a tension between striving for ideal practices, such as following up with all individuals who miss appointments or contacting everyone discharged from hospital within 48 hours, and the practical and financial constraints faced by the organisation.

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