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Section 1 - Background

Real Time Suspected Suicide Surveillance (RTSSS) was established in Wales on 1 April 2022. The RTSSS collects information on deaths by suspected suicide that occur in Wales, as well as deaths of Welsh residents that occur outside of Wales.

The aim of the RTSSS is to act as a central national repository for deaths by suspected suicide in Wales and to generate the intelligence to inform suicide prevention activity across Wales.

Deaths by suspected suicide are reported to the RTSSS before a coroner’s inquest. It is anticipated that the number of deaths by suspected suicide may be higher than the number of suicides as determined by a Coroner, as some deaths by suspected suicide may be found to have a different cause following a coroner’s investigation and inquest.

Data on deaths by suspected suicide reported by RTSSS are different from suicide data as reported by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Suicides reported by the ONS include deaths which are registered following an inquest where a coroner has determined:

  • a suicide conclusion
  • a narrative conclusion (where the death may be recorded as intentional self-harm or injury or poisoning of undetermined intent, based on the information provided by the coroner)
  • an open conclusion (where the death may be coded as injury or poisoning of undetermined intent based on the information provided by the coroner).

(Suicide rates in the UK QMI. 2019, ONS)

Suicide statistics published by the ONS are the official statistics on suicide and should be used for strategic planning and comparison purposes. ONS statistics on deaths registered in 2022 were published on 19 December 2023.

Using RTSSS data

The inquest process means that it can take from months to years for a death to be registered. As official suicide statistics are for deaths registered during a calendar year, they may not reflect any actual changes in the rate of deaths by suspected suicide occurring that year. RTSSS data is intended to be available earlier than official statistics so that suicide prevention leads, multi-agency local suicide prevention fora, local public health teams, police, third sector organisations and other agencies involved in suicide prevention, can respond quickly to any regional or national emerging patterns in order to prevent future deaths. Users have requested data to be made available for this purpose.  Future reports will allow us to understand trends in a timely manner.

Further information on RTSSS can be found at Public Health Wales – Real Time Suspected Suicide Surveillance. We welcome feedback on this report. Please direct any feedback, comments or queries to PHW.RTSSS@wales.nhs.uk.