To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will (a) place in the Library and (b) make available on her Department’s website a copy of “Avoidable Deaths” the five-year report of the national confidential inquiry into suicide and homicide by people with mental illness. (105276)

[holding answer 7 December 2006]: “Avoidable Deaths” is a product of the centre for suicide prevention at the university of Manchester. The centre has been commissioned by the National Patient Safety Agency to investigate suicides, homicides and sudden unexplained deaths in mental health services and make recommendations on how they might be prevented.

I understand from the director of the national confidential inquiry into suicide and homicide by people with mental illness (NCI) that the full version of “Avoidable Deaths” is only available from the website at:

www.medicine.manchester.ac.uk/suicideprevention/nci/

Copies of the full report are available in the Library.

A link to the NCI website can be found on the Department’s website at:

www.dh.gov.uk/mentalhealth

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many homicides have been attributed to people (a) diagnosed with schizophrenia and (b) receiving treatment for schizophrenia in each of the last 10 years. (108245)

According to the latest five-year report of the national confidential inquiry into suicide and homicide by people with mental illness, the number of homicides by people with schizophrenia is around 30 per year which represents 5 per cent. of all homicides. NCI’s findings show that half the perpetrators with schizophrenia were current or recent patients while one third had no previous contact with services.

NCI’s previous five-year report published in 2001 also found that the number of homicides by people with schizophrenia was around 5 per cent. of all homicides.