TY - JOUR
AU - J. Marshall
AU - P. Oliver
AU - J. Hulin
AU - V. Huddy
AU - C. Mitchell
A1 - 
AB - BACKGROUND: Suicide is a major public health issue. More than one third of patients will visit their GP in the month leading up to a suicide attempt, thus highlighting the key role GPs play in suicide prevention. AIM: To explore the qualitative research on GPs' perspectives of suicide prevention in primary care. DESIGN & SETTING: A systematic scoping review of qualitative studies relating to the research question. METHOD: This review is reported in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidance. Articles at full-text review were assessed for inclusion in the study against eligibility criteria (English language, qualitative research, focus on GPs' perspectives of suicide prevention). Data were extracted using a standardised form and a thematic synthesis approach was used to describe the themes elicited from the studies. RESULTS: In total, 2210 abstracts were screened. Twelve studies from seven countries were included at full-text review. The following four main themes were elicited: challenges to managing suicidal behaviour; fragmented relationships with mental health services; personal attitudes of GPs regarding suicidal behaviour; and identified needs to improve suicide prevention in primary care. CONCLUSION: Understanding GPs' perspectives can lead to improved training, resources, and support for primary care professionals, who are frontline providers of mental health care. This scoping review suggested there is a lack of evidence around what approaches GPs find effective in managing suicidality and how relationships can be strengthened with mental health services to deliver person-centred integrated care for those identified at risk of suicide.
AD - Division of Population Health, School of Medicine and Population Health, Regent Court (ScHARR), Sheffield S1, DA, Sheffield, UK.; Division of Population Health, School of Medicine and Population Health, Regent Court (ScHARR), Sheffield S1, DA, Sheffield, UK phillip.oliver@sheffield.ac.uk.; Department of Psychology, Cathedral Court, Sheffield, UK.
AN - 40701768
BT - BJGP Open
C5 - Education & Workforce
CP - 1
DA - 04/2026
DO - 10.3399/bjgpo.2024.0225
DP - NLM
ET - 20260427
IS - 1
JF - BJGP Open
LA - eng
N2 - BACKGROUND: Suicide is a major public health issue. More than one third of patients will visit their GP in the month leading up to a suicide attempt, thus highlighting the key role GPs play in suicide prevention. AIM: To explore the qualitative research on GPs' perspectives of suicide prevention in primary care. DESIGN & SETTING: A systematic scoping review of qualitative studies relating to the research question. METHOD: This review is reported in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidance. Articles at full-text review were assessed for inclusion in the study against eligibility criteria (English language, qualitative research, focus on GPs' perspectives of suicide prevention). Data were extracted using a standardised form and a thematic synthesis approach was used to describe the themes elicited from the studies. RESULTS: In total, 2210 abstracts were screened. Twelve studies from seven countries were included at full-text review. The following four main themes were elicited: challenges to managing suicidal behaviour; fragmented relationships with mental health services; personal attitudes of GPs regarding suicidal behaviour; and identified needs to improve suicide prevention in primary care. CONCLUSION: Understanding GPs' perspectives can lead to improved training, resources, and support for primary care professionals, who are frontline providers of mental health care. This scoping review suggested there is a lack of evidence around what approaches GPs find effective in managing suicidality and how relationships can be strengthened with mental health services to deliver person-centred integrated care for those identified at risk of suicide.
PY - 2026
SN - 2398-3795
ST - GPs' perspectives regarding suicide prevention: a systematic scoping review
T1 - GPs' perspectives regarding suicide prevention: a systematic scoping review
T2 - BJGP Open
TI - GPs' perspectives regarding suicide prevention: a systematic scoping review
U1 - Education & Workforce
U3 - 10.3399/bjgpo.2024.0225
VL - 10
VO - 2398-3795
Y1 - 2026
ER -