Please visit our dedicated family, friends, and carers webpage if you are concerned about the safety or wellbeing of an adult with care and support needs, or if you would just like to know more about adult safeguarding and the work of the Safeguarding Adults Board.
This guidance discusses suicide, including suicidal ideation and suicidal intent. Please ensure that you use your discretion when considering whether to read this guidance, to enable you to keep yourself safe.
The Care Act 2014 safeguarding criteria relates to those adults with care and support needs, who are at risk of, or experiencing, abuse or neglect, and as a result of their care and support needs, are unable to protect themselves.
Whilst the Care Act doesn’t reference suicide, we know that concerns around suicidal ideation and intent can, and do, co-occur with concerns around abuse and neglect that are covered by the Care Act. Therefore, it’s important that professionals are aware of the signs and risk factors of suicidal ideation and intent, and how to access support for adults experiencing suicidal ideation or intent, both for those who meet the Care Act criteria for safeguarding, and those who sit outside of it.
Suicidal thoughts or feelings can affect anyone, at any time. But there are some risk factors to be aware of. These risk factors, or life events, can make it more likely for someone to experience suicidal thoughts or feelings:
This list is not exhaustive, but being faced with any of these challenges, can make it more difficult to cope.
It’s important that we take all disclosures of suicidal thoughts seriously when we’re working with adults. This includes having an understanding of the distinction between suicidal ideation and suicidal intent.
Caroline Harroe, CEO of Harmless, explains this:
“Suicide ideation refers to the presence of thoughts or fantasies related to ending one’s own life. It is essential to assess the intensity, frequency and persistence of these thoughts to determine the level of risk. On the other hand, suicide intent refers to a specific plan or desire to carry out a suicidal act. Recognising the distinction between ideation and intent is vital in assessing the immediate risk and urgency of intervention. While both indicate a level of distress, immediate intent requires immediate attention and intervention to ensure the individual’s safety.”
We can see from Harroe’s description of suicidal ideation versus intent that understanding the distinction between the two is vital in determining the type of support and intervention needed to keep the adult safe. So, what might they look like?
Adults experiencing suicidal ideation may:
Adults experiencing any of the above may benefit from support such as counselling or mental health support, as well as the support of those around them.
Adults demonstrating suicidal intent may:
Adults experiencing any of the above may have reached a crisis point, and may be planning to take their life. These adults likely require immediate intervention to keep them safe.
If at any point a person is at immediate risk of harm to themselves or others you should contact 999 for assistance. As long as it does not place you in any danger, do not leave them alone.
For adults who do not appear to be at immediate risk of harm, and who are expressing suicidal ideation without intent, they can access support, including mental health support and counselling, through their GP surgery. They can also access support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, through the Samaritans.
For adults who appear to have suicidal intent, that is, they have made a plan to end their life, they can access support from their mental health crisis team (if they have one), NHS 111, or from Samaritans. If you are aware that they have a safety plan in place, support the adult to follow their safety plan. This may include working with other agencies involved with the adult to best support them.
If you think the adult meets the criteria for safeguarding under the Care Act, you should:
However, please be aware that Adult Social Care is not an emergency service and should not be used to access support in an emergency.
The Approved Mental Health Professional service (AMHP service) responds to requests for Mental Health Act assessments to be carried out. They decide whether or not to carry out an assessment, and if so, make all necessary arrangements for the assessment to be carried out.
The service consists of an AMHP Manager and a team of virtual AMHPs, who are based in several locations across the county. The AMHP service works on a rota basis and social work practitioners not on duty fulfil a range of social work functions under the Care Act in whichever team they are ordinarily based.
A person may need to have a Mental Health Act assessment when:
The following are just some of the things that could indicate a person's mental health has deteriorated:
For more information on the AMHP service and how to get in contact, visit the West Sussex County Council Approved Mental Health Professionals webpage.
Harroe, Caroline (2023) Understanding the Nuances: Differentiating Suicide Ideation, Intent and Motivation for Effective Intervention
Mind (2025) Getting help in a crisis
Preventing Suicide in Sussex (2025) Are you concerned about someone you know?
Samaritans (2025) If you’re worried about someone else
