Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007: guidance for General Practice

Suicide Prevention

A new suicide prevention strategy is being developed for Scotland, and is due to be published soon.

As outlined already, adults who are – or may be - at risk of harm can present in complex circumstances. In some cases this may result in an individual seeking to cause potential or actual harm to themselves, and showing suicidal ideation. Acute and immediate intervention may be required to keep the individual safe at the time of crisis. In General Practice, your work centres on the things which matter to people, and things which have an impact on their everyday lives. If a patient may be at risk of harming themselves and shows suicidal ideation, there are resources available to help you support them.

Asist (Applied Suicide Interventions Skills Training) is widely available for anyone over the age of 16 years, and teaches participants to recognise when someone may be at risk of suicide and how to effectively work with them to create a plan that will support their immediate safety, until further appropriate intervention is available.

General Practices have access to a range of NHS Education for Scotland Ask Tell Respond resources which include responding to those with suicidal ideation (information on mental health and suicide prevention ). These resources support practitioners to provide a trauma informed response to those in distress, whether that is from suicidal thoughts or as part of post-intervention support.