Homicides and Suicides Annual Report

Created: 2009-07-29 13:19:20

Comment from Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity SANE, on the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness Annual Report:

“We are concerned by the disturbing increase in the number of people with severe mental illness, particularly schizophrenia, who commit homicide. While such cases are extremely rare in comparison with the general population, we believe many could be prevented if mental health services provided better care and treatment.

“These figures illustrate the way in which the care in the community policy can fail to protect both patients and the public. In many cases known to us, the person with mental illness had shown all the warning signs before the tragedy, and the families’ pleas had gone unheeded.

“In order to maintain confidence in the mental health system, we need to identify those at risk and respond to signs of crisis, when a person’s mental state deteriorates and they fail to take their medication or keep appointments.”

“We are also concerned about the number of people who commit suicide having been allowed to walk out of a psychiatric ward.”

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