Viewpoint: Exemplary collaboration with a GP and psychiatrist.

Abstract

It was a usual day for me going to visit a suicidal patient after booking a room at his GP’s practice. As a consultant psychiatrist in a crisis team, nearly all the patients on my caseload have suicidal ideation or have made an attempt to kill themselves. The patient was a 32-year-old man who had attempted suicide by taking an overdose of 76 over-the-counter paracetamol, ibuprofen, and cetirizine tablets together with 4–5 pints of alcohol, and who had tried to put a plastic bag over his head while wearing handcuffs. He was fortunately unable to end his life as police had been informed by his ex-partner, to whom he had sent a text message about his plans to end his life. He was a high-risk patient: his father had committed suicide by overdose when the patient …