On Wednesday 16 September, 12:30 – 1:30pm, we hosted a webinar to help practitioners identify and respond to suicide risk in vulnerable children.
Sir David Holmes CBE, Panel Chair, was joined by Panel Members Dr Sarah Raistrick and Codrutza Oros-Marsh to explore the challenges in recognising self-harm and suicide risk and examples of good practice.
Approximately 324 practitioners attended the webinar and were encouraged to continue discussions through the online forum and share useful resources and examples of good practice.
The discussion focused on several themes, including understanding cumulative risk, different presentations of distress, information sharing and the impact of identity, gender and sexuality on a child’s experiences and risks.
Cumulative risk -Attendees confirmed the Panel findings aligned with their own experience, suggesting the system is organised and funded to respond to crisis and immediate harm rather than looking at harm that builds over time. Attendees agreed cumulative risk is extremely important to keeping children safe and similar issues are seen in incidents involving neglect.
Presentations of distress – This theme drew the most direct comments, including asks for examples of distress that is not expressed in expected ways, practical approaches for children with learning disability or neurodivergence as diagnoses rise, and recognition that trauma, ADHD and autism symptoms overlap.
Information sharing – Participants highlighted information sharing is still challenge across agencies, with some warning that private and transnational health providers sit outside the arrangements practitioners rely on.
Gender, identity and sexuality – The majority of children who died by suicide in the panel sample were female, which surprised attendees and prompted questions about how many of the children were transgender, whether method choice explains gender differences, and what is known about methods used by transgender young people. Binary gender fields in agency systems were also said to hide transgender young people.