Self-harm and suicide prevention

Health Education England (HEE) and the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (NCCMH) have launched a series of self-harm and suicide prevention frameworks. The competency frameworks describe activities that need to be brought together to support people who self-harm and/or are suicidal.

The frameworks, which have a range of applications, overlap in terms of their content, but help describe the work that is required within different populations and contexts.

Working with children and young people

Working with adults and older people

Working with the public

Service users and carers

The applications include:

Developing training curricula for practitioners from a range of clinical and professional backgrounds

Evaluating existing training

Evaluating practice in existing services

Reflecting on and supervising individual professional practice

Identifying good practice and helping those receiving support to understand what they can expect from their care.

The frameworks, along with their background documents, are available to view and download at the University College London website.

If you have any questions or queries, please email mentalhealth@hee.nhs.uk

We need to talk about suicide aims to provide support for volunteers and health care professionals, enabling them to recognise early warning signs of suicide, support patients and their families, as well as offering additional health services in this time of need.

The e-Learning resource has been developed alongside Public Health England (PHE) and has been supported by families who have lived through suicide, as well as health care professionals who work in mental health services.

The resource was initially launched in the North West of England, where suicide rates are higher than England’s average, with an even greater number being men aged between 35-64.

We have a number of e-learning sessions within the MindEd programme. 

In the session ‘Postvention Support for Staff and Organisational Response’ learners have the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the impact of bereavement by suicide on family, colleagues and friends, by following the story of two people affected by a suicide.

The latest session complements 3 existing sessions which cover issues related to self-harm, making an assessment, and therapeutic consultation competencies. A further 2 sessions on assessment and formulation, and structured care and intervention, including safety planning will be available soon.