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" A significant reduction in the annual suicide rate could be achieved by preventing patients from leaving psychiatric wards without permission, a new study has found. Researchers from the University of Manchester claim that up to 50 suicide deaths could be prevented if action was taken. The study, by the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness, collected data on 50,352 people who had died from suicide or unexplained causes in England and Wales between 1997 and 2006. Figures show that 13,331 suicide deaths occurred in people who had been involved in the mental health service in the year before their death, and 14 per cent affected those who were current psychiatric patients. However, the report in the journal BMC Psychiatry also found that the number of deaths had dropped over the course of the study period, from 221 in 1997 to 141 in 2006. &amp;#039;Our findings have confirmed previous studies that a substantial proportion of in-patient suicide deaths occur after absconding from the ward,&amp;#039; said Dr Isabelle Hunt, who led the research. &amp;#039;Over the ten-year study period, while the number of in-patient suicide deaths declined, the proportion of these deaths which occurred among patients who had absconded remained unchanged at about 40 per cent.&amp;#039; According to the researchers, the number of deaths could be reduced by improving conditions on wards, providing more support and creating a less intimidating environment. Tighter security on wards and closer observation of patients would also be beneficial, they said. Dr Hunt added: &amp;#039;It is clearly a challenge to prevent patients leaving a general psychiatry open ward, but our findings can inform staff of the clinical characteristics associated with absconding suicides, such as schizophrenia, substance misuse and non-compliance.&amp;#039; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/healthy-living/news/a19155/suicide-in-mentally-ill-could-be-reduced/>