As someone who has worked in MH in the NHS since then the response to that was to set up the National Confidential inquiry into Suicide in 1996 which reviews data related to every suicide recorded in England and Wales each year and reports on patterns, e.g. rises among children or postnatal women or the prison population and actions which need to be taken. As a result we have become more effective at suicide prevention and our suicide rates have declined significantly. We now have one of the lowest suicide rates in Europe - far lower than countries like Germany and France which are similar to us economically.
Each suicide is a massive tragedy for the individual and their loved ones. But they are treated as serious adverse events within the NHS and we have multiple systems in place to see what lessons can be learnt to reduce future deaths. This is true wherever they occur, not just deaths in MH settings, in fact particularly not deaths of people in MH settings as its the people who have not sought help from MH services before killing themselves who concern us most.
Its a good example of govt (Tory btw 94-96 when this was implemented) identifying the right action, implementing it and it bearing fruit over the long-term. Indeed leading a cultural change where we see suicide not as an inevitable tragedy but as a potentially preventable outcome to work to avoid.
I am really sorry if this is triggering for anyone in anyway. Having lost both loved ones and patients to suicide I know its a very heavy form of loss. Those of us working in the field do take it extremely seriously.