TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2016//
TI  - Mental health services, suicide and 7-day working
JO  - British journal of psychiatry
A1  - Kapur, Nav
A1  - Ibrahim, Saied
A1  - Hunt, Isabelle M.
A1  - Turnbull, Pauline
A1  - Shaw, Jenny
A1  - Appleby, Louis
SP  - 334
EP  - 339
VL  - 209
IS  - 4
N2  - BACKGROUND: Patients admitted to hospital at the weekend appear to be at increased risk of death compared with those admitted at other times. However, a 'weekend effect' has rarely been explored in mental health and there may also be other times of year when patients are vulnerable. AIMS: To investigate the timing of suicide in high-risk mental health patients. <br><br>METHOD: We compared the incidence of suicide at the weekend v. during the week, and also in August (the month of junior doctor changeover) v. other months in in-patients, patients within 3 months of discharge and patients under the care of crisis resolution home treatment (CRHT) teams (2001-2013). <br><br>RESULTS: The incidence of suicide was lower at the weekends for each group (incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 0.88 (95% CI 0.79-0.99) for in-patients, IRR = 0.85 (95% CI 0.78-0.92) for post-discharge patients, IRR = 0.87 (95% CI 0.78-0.97) for CRHT patients). Patients who died by suicide were also less likely to have been admitted at weekends than during the week (IRR = 0.52 (95% CI 0.45-0.60)). The incidence of suicide in August was not significantly different from other months. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: We found evidence of a weekend effect for suicide risk among high-risk mental health patients, but with a 12-15% lower incidence at weekends. Our study does not support the claim that safety is compromised at weekends, at least in mental health services.<br><br>© The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2016.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0007-1250
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.116.184788
ID  - ref1
ER  -