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General practitioners' perspectives on suicide prevention in primary care: a qualitative study
Jack Marshall1, Joe Hulin2, Phillip Oliver1
1School of Medicine and Population Health, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
BJGP Open
|August 6, 2026
Summary
General practitioners (GPs) in Yorkshire and the Humber see primary care as vital for suicide prevention. They face challenges with integrated services and continuity of care, impacting effective suicide risk management.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Primary Care Medicine
- Mental Health Services Research
Background:
- Suicide is a leading cause of death for young adults in England and Wales.
- Primary care settings are critical for suicide prevention, with most individuals consulting a GP within a year of death.
- Suicide rates in Yorkshire and the Humber exceed the national average, necessitating focused prevention strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the perspectives of General Practitioners (GPs) on suicide prevention strategies within primary care.
- To explore the specific challenges and opportunities for suicide prevention in the Yorkshire and the Humber region.
Main Methods:
- A qualitative study involving semi-structured interviews with GPs from diverse practices in Yorkshire and the Humber.
- Purposive sampling was used to ensure a range of GP demographics and patient populations were represented.
- Thematic Analysis was applied to interview transcripts to identify key themes related to suicide prevention.
Main Results:
- Four main themes emerged: integration with mental health and third sector services, challenges in assessing and managing suicide risk, the importance and fragility of continuity of care, and the lack of systematic case reviews post-suicide.
- GPs highlighted inconsistent organisation of mental health services and resource constraints as barriers to effective suicide risk management.
- Continuity of care was identified as crucial for suicide prevention but often undermined by triage-focused models.
Conclusions:
- An integrated and well-resourced system, including accessible primary care mental health workers and third sector support, could improve suicide prevention.
- Addressing the tension between same-day triage and personalised, continuous care is essential for enhancing primary care's role in suicide prevention.
- Systemic improvements are needed to support GPs in suicide prevention efforts, including structured learning from suicide events.
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