You asked
Can you please tell me:
-How many causes of death have been recorded as suicide during the pandemic (March 2020 to present date)?
-How many recorded suicides are directly linked to the pandemic?
-How many referrals have been made to Mental Health Services covering the same period?
-How many people have required hospitalisation and/or sectioning under the MHA covering the same period?
-Total MH finding (breaking down of cuts) prior to March 2020?
We said
Thank you for your enquiry.
The majority of suicides require an inquest, where a coroner investigates the death. The amount of time it takes to hold an inquest causes a lag between the date of death and the date of death registration, referred to as a registration delay. Registration delays for deaths caused by suicide tend to be 5 to 6 months on average.
Therefore, our most up-to-date analysis for suicide data are our quarterly provisional figures, accessible via the following link: Quarterly suicide death registrations in England: 2001 to 2019 registrations and Quarter 1 to Quarter 3 2020 (provisional). This provides suicides that have been registered from January to September 2020. The following dataset accompanying this bulletin provides this information broken down by age, sex, and region. Please note, due to the aforementioned registration delay, most of these deaths would have occurred in 2019.
Our statistics are based on the date of registration, therefore our annual Suicides in the UK release is based on 2019 death registrations.
Unfortunately, we are unable to provide statistics regarding suicides directly linked to the COVID-19 Pandemic. This would involve knowing the reason for the suicide, which is not recorded on the death certificate. Therefore, we do not hold this information.
Unfortunately, we do not have access and so do not hold data relating to hospital admissions and Mental Health referrals. This data is held by NHS Digital, they are better placed to answer your enquiry. They can be contacted via email at enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk, and by telephone at 0300 303 5678.
With regards to UK Mental Health spending and budget, your enquiry would be better placed with the Department of Health and Social Care. They can be contacted via telephone (0207 210 4850) or via their Contact Us service.