Safety Planning

The safety planning intervention is an evidence based collaborative, recovery orientated clinical intervention between the service user, practitioner and a “significant other” (i.e. a person identified by the service user as someone they trust and wish to support them in completing the intervention). It is complemented by a practitioner’s guide, online resources and service user information to aid completion. These are all available within the centre for perfect care. The intervention ensures the creation of personalised safety plans for all those who may be at risk of suicide.

Mersey care NHS foundation trust has committed to implementing safety plans with all service users via its inclusion within the widely publicised “Zero Suicide Policy” This policy and the safety planning intervention support both international and national agendas and action plans to prevent suicide ( E.G WHO 2013, DOH 2011&2015, IMROC 2016).

The safety planning intervention also supports the recent recommendation for “personalised risk management” made by the National confidential inquiry into Suicide and Homicide (2016).

This collaborative tool developed and co-designed by staff and service users within our Trust over the past two years incorporates learning from quality improvement cycles and enhancement of current scientific literature in relation to personalised risk management interventions (E.G Stanley and Brown 2015; Jobes 2014). Its ability to be delivered by a range of practitioners provides opportunities for focussing in a cost effective manner the unique skill mix of our workforce.

This intervention aims to develop service user skills by:

Improving and encouraging self insight into subtle changes in thoughts, feelings and behaviours that may lead to suicidal crisis
Review and understand historical and current thoughts, feelings and previous attempts to highlight existing strengths and support networks
Identify key issues, clinical needs and interventions to develop alternative solutions for service users

Enhance hope generation by:

Connecting with service user strengths, identifying resilience, current and potential support networks available to them
Developing practical hope kits, reasons for living and individualised crisis strategies designed to respond to specific crisis and problems. The result is an empowerment process, reduction in fears and confidence in ability to manage specific challenges.

Click here to access information about the journey so far including development phases, outcomes for staff, service users and the Trust aswell as areas for future development.