AQW 43060/22-27

Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry

Tabled Date: 24/03/2026
Answered On Date: 05/05/2026
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health to detail any training or guidance that is provided to healthcare professionals to support decision-making on when it is appropriate to involve family members or carers in cases where a patient may be at risk of self-harm or suicide.

Answer:

Protect Life 2 is Northern Ireland’s strategy for the prevention of suicide and self-harm. With regards to suicide, a recurrent concern raised by families is their perception that staff exclude them from the mental healthcare of their relative by excessive adherence to patient confidentiality. Learning from serious adverse incident reviews also commonly reports a failure to share information as a recurrent theme in deaths by suicide.

Best practice in mental health care is for families and carers to have as much involvement as possible in the assessment process, including the opportunity to express their views on potential risk. Care plans and safety plans should also be collaboratively developed where possible.

To help address family concerns, a Consensus Statement for information sharing and suicide prevention was developed and published in 2014 (updated and republished in 2021). Under Protect Life 2 we have developed and published the SHARE confidentiality and consent guidelines to support HSC staff in this regard: https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/health/doh-share-guide-ni_0.pdf.

The Consensus statement and guidance do not seek to change existing legal requirements or professional guidance in respect of confidentiality rather they are designed to increase confidence, safety and better partnerships to improve mental health assessment and safety planning.

The guidelines aim to support mental health and social care staff in putting the Consensus Statement into action and to advise more broadly on how to engage with patients when discussing issues of confidentiality and consent to share information. They also aim to enhance a partnership approach between professionals, the individual at risk, agencies and carers involved. To help support staff in the use of the SHARE guidelines an online training programme has been developed by Northern Ireland’s Clinical Education Council and training is delivered across HSC Trusts.

It is my view that it would be very beneficial for General Practice to have access to both SHARE guidelines and the associated training. The Chief Medical Officer has also requested the Towards Zero Suicide collaborative to consider feasibility of further rollout which could potentially include Nursing, Midwifery, Social Work, and Allied Health Professions in the undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum. Promotion across services, including those that interface most widely with Mental Health and Addictions Services would also be particularly beneficial.

The collaborative have engaged with the Royal College of Psychiatry and with the West Belfast GP Federation on these matters. To date outcomes of this engagement include the sharing of SHARE guidelines and training via the Northern Ireland Medical and Dental Training Agency (NIMDTA) psychiatry education lead for inclusion in teaching modules for psychiatry trainees, and also via college for undergraduate students teaching. SHARE guidelines and training have also been added to the GPNI website. Consideration is also being given to the optimum method for further roll out to GPs.

My officials remain engaged with the collaborative with a view to furthering the reach of the SHARE guidance in accordance with the views previously expressed by the Chief Medical Officer.

Given the substantial steps taken to improve consent and confidentiality guidelines, the Department is not intending to explore legislation in this area.