The Early Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Health and Community Physical Health Services and Their Patients’ Mortality in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, UK

Self-harm during the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic in England: Comparative trend analysis of hospital presentations

“…We have no reason to believe that this proportion decreased during the period of lockdown, especially as there was no reduction in the availability of mental health staff in either centre and satellite assessment units were available for a short time in both centres to provide assessment for patients fit to be seen there. Also, our findings are similar to those reported from other hospitals in England ( Chen et al., 2020 ), in Paris during the first four weeks of lockdown ( Pignon et al., 2020 ), in Madrid during the early stages of the pandemic ( Hernandez-Calle et al., 2020 ) and in presentations of individuals with suicidal ideation to emergency departments in the USA ( Smalley et al., 2020 ).…”

“…Our finding of a marked reduction in hospital self-harm presentations following introduction of lockdown is consistent with results of a study of liaison psychiatry referrals to hospitals in the Cambridge area in England ( Chen et al., 2020 ). An early report from Paris, France, indicated reduced referrals to mental health services for attempted suicide in the city in the first four weeks following Pignon et al., 2020 ).…”

Mental health problems in the general population during and after the first lockdown phase due to the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic: Rapid review of multi-wave studies

“…As data on other mental health indicators suggest, the first lockdown phase has – in general – not led to an increase in mental health care utilization. A UK study reported that the demand for mental health care decreased partly due to fears of becoming infected in health care settings (Chen et al, 2020). A large German statutory health insurer published a report that indicated a sharp increase in mental health-related sick leave during the first pandemic peak that had returned to ‘normal’ levels during spring and summer of 2020.…”

Self-harm presentations to Emergency Departments and Place of Safety during the ‘first wave’ of the UK COVID-19 pandemic: South London and Maudsley data on service use from February to June 2020

“…Considering limitations, it is important to note that these data are derived from only four, neighbouring general hospitals. Because complete data are being provided for that site with no hypothetical source population intended, calculation of confidence intervals was not felt to be appropriate for the descriptive data provided in this report; applicability to other mental healthcare providers cannot therefore be inferred and would need specific investigation, although similar trends have been reported from at least one other UK site (9). It is important to remember that even outside of lockdown, the majority of self-harm in the community does not present to medical services so this data cannot be assumed to represent trends in all self-harm, only episodes resulting in emergency care (10).…”