Primary care contact, clinical management, and suicide risk following discharge from inpatient mental health care: a case–control study

Background Evidence is sparse regarding service usage and the clinical management of people recently discharged from inpatient psychiatric care who die by suicide.

Aim To improve understanding of how people discharged from inpatient mental health care are supported by primary care during this high-risk transition.

Design & setting A nested case–control study, utilising interlinked primary and secondary care records in England for people who died within a year of discharge between 2001 and 2019, matched on age, sex, practice-level deprivation, and region with up to 20 living discharged people.

Method We described patterns of consultation, prescription of psychotropic medication, and continuity of care for people who died by suicide and those who survived. Mutually adjusted relative risk estimates were generated for a range of primary care and clinical variables.

Results More than 40% of patients who died within 2 weeks of discharge and >80% of patients who died within 1 year of discharge had at least one primary care consultation within the respective time periods. Evidence of discharge communication from hospital was infrequent. Within-practice continuity of care was relatively high. Those who died by suicide were less likely to consult within 2 weeks of discharge (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 0.61 [95% confidence interval {CI} = 0.42 to 0.89]), more likely to consult in the week before death (AOR 1.71 [95% CI = 1.36 to 2.15]), be prescribed multiple types of psychotropic medication (AOR 1.73 [95% CI = 1.28 to 2.33]), experience readmission, and have a diagnosis outside of the ‘severe mental illness’ definition.

Conclusion Primary care clinicians have opportunities to intervene and should prioritise patients experiencing transition from inpatient care. Clear communication and liaison between services is essential to provide timely support.