We are proud to share that Dr Nicola Airey and Professor Zaffer Iqbal, both central members of the CAMS‑care UK team, have been recognised nationally for their contribution to suicide‑prevention research. Nicola has been awarded the British Psychological Society’s Early Career Researcher Best Paper Award for her work developing the Suicide Risk Assessment Confidence Scale (SRACS) — the first validated measure designed to understand how clinicians confidence when assessing and managing suicide risk.

This research, carried out over seven years with co‑author Dr Igor Menezes (University of Hull), addresses a long‑standing gap in the field. While suicide assessment is one of the most emotionally demanding and high‑stakes areas of clinical practice, there has been no reliable or theoretically grounded way to measure clinician confidence. The SRACS provides the sector with a much‑needed framework for understanding how clinicians experience this work and how services can better support them.

“We were very surprised that nothing existed to answer these important questions accurately…”

-Professor Zaffer Iqbal

Why this matters for suicide‑specific care

Confidence has often been treated as a single, self‑evident trait. However, clinicians working with suicidality routinely describe a far more complex picture — one shaped by uncertainty, emotional burden, ethical responsibility and the pressure of making decisions in high‑risk situations.

The SRACS demonstrates that clinician confidence is multidimensional, comprising four distinct components:

• Professional conduct – confidence in ethical practice, boundaries and defensible decision‑making
• Competence – perceived knowledge, skill and preparedness
• Worry – the emotional and psychological load of suicide risk work
• Deference – reliance on external authority or rigid protocols when uncertain

A rigorous development process

The SRACS was developed through:

• Focus groups with 367 NHS mental health clinicians
• Expert panel review
• A 73‑item pilot questionnaire completed by 375 practitioners across psychology, psychiatry, nursing, social work and allied professions

The final 46‑item scale showed strong psychometric properties and reliably captured the four dimensions of confidence across diverse professional backgrounds.

“I’m honoured to receive the BPS Early Career Researcher Best Paper Award. Completing this research alongside the demands of doctoral training was both challenging and deeply rewarding, and this recognition affirms the value of persisting with work that meaningfully contributes to our field.”

— Dr Nicola Airey

Nicola’s work is informed by her long‑standing involvement in suicide‑prevention research and her role in supporting CAMS implementation across the UK since 2018.

What this means for suicide prevention work

The SRACS offers services a structured way to understand how clinicians experience suicide‑specific work — not only in terms of skill, but also emotional readiness, ethical confidence and reliance on support structures. This insight is vital for adapting training, supervision and organisational support that genuinely meets clinicians’ needs.

The scale is already attracting interest from NHS trusts and international partners, including CAMS US. It can be used:

• Before and after suicide‑specific training, to understand impact
• In supervision, to support reflective practice
• In research, to explore how confidence relates to decision‑making and outcomes

“We all recognise that suicide prevention work is highly stressful, and with suicide rates higher than they have been since the 1990’s, it is unsurprising that a clinician’s confidence and belief they can treat suicidality is affected. The SRACS developed organically from wanting a means to identify the strengths and areas for further development of clinicians working with suicidality. It was essential to understand whether new suicide prevention trainings or developments are having a positive effect on clinician confidence. We were very surprised that nothing existed to answer these important questions accurately, as without it you cannot fully appraise the value of suicide prevention innovations.”
— Professor Zaffer Iqbal

A meaningful contribution to suicide‑specific practice

The SRACS strengthens the evidence base underpinning suicide‑specific care and provides a new way for services to understand and support the clinicians who carry out this vital work. For CAMS‑care UK, it reinforces our commitment to research‑informed practice and to improving the experience of both clinicians and the people they support.

Bring CAMS and SRACS into your service

Reach out to CAMS‑care UK to discuss training, implementation, or to request the full SRACS research and clinician confidence scale.

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