Use of the critical incident technique in primary care in the audit of deaths by suicide.
OBJECTIVE
To explore the usefulness of the critical incident technique in primary care to improve policy and practice to prevent cases of suicide.


METHODS
Inviting all primary care teams in County Durham with a patient who committed suicide between 1 June 1993 and 31 May 1994 to take part in a critical incident audit with an external facilitator.


RESULTS
49 cases of suicide were available for study, registered with 31 practices. 19 (61%) practices accounting for 27 (55%) cases agreed to take part. Case discussions showed areas where practice could be improved, but no substantive preventive measures were identified within primary care, which would reduce the number of people committing suicide. The wider social and economic context was thought to be more important.


CONCLUSIONS
The use of the critical incident technique in primary care may have only a limited role in improving the management of people at risk from suicide. However, one of the potential strengths of this approach is to encourage reflection on practice in a difficult emotional area.
Redpath
L
L
County Durham Health Authority, UK.
Stacey
A
A
Pugh
E
E
Holmes
E
E
D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008485:Medical Audit / Q000379:methods*; D010348:Patient Care Team; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013222:State Medicine; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D000092864:Suicide Prevention