MDT views of treating suicidality on inpatient wards
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding multidisciplinary teams’ views and experiences of psychosocial and suicide-focused interventions on acute inpatient wards
IRAS ID
360829
Contact name
Elystan Roberts
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 29 days
Research summary
Individuals who have been admitted to mental health hospital are at particularly high risk of dying by suicide, particularly in the weeks immediately following discharge from hospital. Recent evidence has indicated that the psychological treatments we offer while people are in hospital are no better at preventing suicide than providing no particular treatment at all.The availability of specialist psychology staff on mental health wards is often stretched, with a single Clinical Psychologist typically responsible for the care of an entire mental health ward. However, the NHS Mental Health Taskforce recommends that patients receiving acute mental health care should have access to “timely, evidence-based care”. Therefore, the development of effective psychological treatments which can be delivered by multidisciplinary team (MDT) colleagues, with whom patients have more frequent contact, is warranted.
The proposed study will be the first step towards developing this MDT-delivered intervention. The study will involve conducting semi-structured interviews with multidisciplinary psychiatric ward staff with experience of supporting suicidal patients. We plan to ask participants about their experiences of supporting suicidal patients and about their views of delivering psychological interventions, with a view to understanding how to optimise the future intervention.
REC name
Wales REC 4
REC reference
25/WA/0321
Date of REC Opinion
19 Dec 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion