Skip to main content

Real Time Suicide Surveillance System

Real Time Suicide Surveillance System

 

 


The Real Time Suicide Surveillance System (RTSSS) for Wales was established in Public Health Wales on the 1st April 2022.

One of the ambitions in the ‘Talk to me 2’ suicide and self-harm prevention strategy for Wales (2015-2022)1 was to establish surveillance systems to improve the quality of data and intelligence to inform prevention. One of these systems relates to the real-time capture of (suspected) data, via Police-based data capture methods. The need for this has become more urgent in the light of the pandemic, and other areas of the UK have been implementing these systems over the past year. 
 

 

 

Aims and objectives

The aim of the RTSSS is to act as a central national repository for suspected suicides in Wales and to generate the intelligence to inform suicide prevention activity across Wales.  It will also be used for ongoing monitoring of the impact of the pandemic on suspected suicide deaths.   

The objectives of the RTSSS are to: 

  • ascertain and collate data on suspected suicide deaths in Wales and suspected suicide deaths of people who are normally resident in Wales (who may die elsewhere) 
  • undertake surveillance of suspected suicides including the identification of and description of emerging suicide clusters to inform local response groups  
  • undertake surveillance of suspected suicides to identify patterns and trends of suspected suicide deaths to inform policy and practice 
  • share the findings through accessible data visualisation, to inform action by different groups and forums 
  • contribute to the suicide prevention agenda  
  • contribute to research into suicide prevention 

 

Further information

Meet the team
  • Public Health Lead: Dr Rosalind Reilly, Consultant in Public Health
  • Programme Manager: Suki Baynton
  • Health Intelligence Analyst: Lesley Roberts
  • Information Officer: Kath Fielding

 

Contact us

Email: PHW.RTSSS@wales.nhs.uk