Guidelines for anticoagulation

the month after discharge the risk of suicide is increased over 100-fold.Approximately 2/8% of those presenting after parasuicide will have com- mitted suicide at eight year follow up.For those admitted to hospital the risk might be expected to be higher: 15% of patients admitted to hospital with depression commit suicide.3The introduction of more complex discharge procedures and the care programme approach have led to a greater concentration on patients who require admission to hospital and suffer severe mental illness.The lack of new resources to implement these time consuming procedures may lead to reduced provision for patients presenting in crisis.The lack of suicides in our cohort, despite important risk factors, illustrates the difficulties for secondary services in effectively targeting those at high risk of suicide.The Health of the Nation aims at reducing the rate of suicide by 15% overall and by 33% among people with serious mental illness.4In the absence of meaningful target groups, with limited and redirected resources we run the risk of targeting too specific a group, by default, and failing to meet those aims.