Suicides

Summary

A request for suicide statistics on the Isle of Man from 2016 to 2020 was partially fulfilled, as the Cabinet Office could not provide 2020 figures due to pending registrations and coding. The response disclosed available data categorized by year of registration and year of death for the period 2016 to 2019.

Key Facts

• The Public Health Directorate could not supply 2020 suicide figures due to waiting on completion of registrations and coding.
• Inquests can take up to 18 months to complete, causing discrepancies between year of death and year of registration.
• The provided statistics cover deaths from suicide and injury of undetermined intent for ages 10+ and 15+ only.
• Data is classified using ICD10 codes X60-X84 and Y10-Y34.
• The Cabinet Office does not hold all the information requested for the full date range.

Data Disclosed

• 2016: 6 deaths (registration), 8 deaths (occurrence)
• 2017: 8 deaths (registration), 11 deaths (occurrence)
• 2018: 12 deaths (registration), 9 deaths (occurrence)
• 2019: 8 deaths (registration), 2 deaths (occurrence)
• Request date: 2020-12-29
• Response date: 2021-01-20
• Case ID: 1615975
• ICD10 codes: X60-X84, Y10-Y34
• Inquest duration: up to 18 months

Original Request

How many suicides have been recorded in the island from January 1 2016 to December 29 2020?

Data Tables (2)

Full Response Text

Government Office Douglas Isle of Man IM1 3PN Telephone: (+44) 01624 686244 Website: www.gov.im/co

Our ref: 1615975 20 January 2021

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 29 December 2020 and which states:

"How many suicides have been recorded in the island from January 1 2016 to December 29 2020?" While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Cabinet Office does not hold some of the information that you have requested. The Public Health Directorate is currently unable to supply figures for 2020 due to waiting on completion of registrations and coding. There will be some deaths that occurred in 2019 that were not registered until 2020. This is why totals for deaths by year of registration and totals by year of death do not match, there will have been some deaths registered in 2016 that actually occurred in 2015. Please note inquests can take up to 18 months to complete. Please find below the information that is held: Isle of Man Suicide Figures Year of Registration Number of Deaths Year of Death Number of Deaths 2016 6 2016 8 2017 8 2017 11 2018 12 2018 9 2019 8 2019 2 Definition: Number of deaths from suicide and injury of undetermined intent classified by underlying cause of death recorded as ICD10 codes X60-X84 (age 10+ only), Y10-Y34 (ages 15+ only). Year of registration = year in which the death was registered with the civil registry, following completion of any inquests etc. - this is the basis for calculation of published rates. Please quote the reference number 1615975 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded. If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi. I will now close your request as of this date.

Yours sincerely