NHS: Mental Health Services

The Department does not hold data on the level of suicides amongst the National Health Service workforce.

Data relating to numbers of suicides in England and Wales is published regularly by the Office of National Statistics (ONS). ONS occasionally also publishes ad hoc analysis of suicide numbers by standard occupational classifications. Whilst this data does not allow identification of the employer, such as the NHS, it does present suicide numbers by broad occupation categories. The latest ad hoc publication can be found at the following link:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/adhocs/2726suicidebyoccupationinenglandandwales2023and2024provisional

There is a wide range of mental health support for all NHS staff. Staff are able to access mental health support through their general practice but can also access support provided by their employer through employee assistance programmes or occupational health. NHS England also offers a range of health and wellbeing resources, including health and wellbeing apps and text support services, and NHS leaders can access the National Staff Mental Health Treatment Service which is available to both clinical and non-clinical staff and is in place to help those with more complex mental health needs. Further information on the National Staff Mental Health Treatment Service is available at the following link:

https://www.practitionerhealth.nhs.uk/

The service is designed to offer confidential support to NHS professionals, who cannot access confidential support locally.

NHS England has also published a national suicide prevention toolkit and postvention toolkit to help organisations introduce prevention strategies and support their workforce, both of which are available, respectively, at the following two links:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/working-together-to-prevent-suicide-in-the-nhs/

https://www.nhsconfed.org/system/files/2023-03/NHS-employee-suicide-postvention-toolkit.pdf