Suicide prevention strategy development: early engagement - summary report

Analysis

At each of the workshops a standard set of questions was used. Notes based on the responses from the workshop were provided to the Improvement Service (IS) and these were used as the basis for the analysis. Whilst the notes identified the geographical location at which the event was targeted, they did not provide any identifiable information about participants. This approach was taken to support openness in conversations, and in recognition of potential restrictions this might cause during analysis. Accordingly, whilst it was possible to identify specific suggestions emanating from geographical areas it was not possible to ascertain who had made them. For example, in relation to individual comments it was not clear if they had come from an individual participant with direct experience of suicide or a professional working in a relevant, but unspecified, area. Whilst this was important to respect confidentiality and guarantee anonymity it means that it has limited the scope of analysis that can be undertaken in relation to the workshop sessions.

In relation to online survey responses, whilst all were anonymised it is possible to distinguish between respondents who were taking part on an individual basis and those coming from organisations, and indeed the type of organisation. Accordingly, where differences in the nature of survey responses have been identified these have been reflected in the analysis.

A small team in the Improvement Service (IS) analysed all the responses and categorised data.

Each theme will be considered in turn, however there were several examples of ‘golden threads’ that ran through the responses to many of the identified themes. To avoid repetition, and to highlight that these responses were not unique to one area but were crosscutting these will be highlighted separately.