People with a history of psychiatric disorder are at a higher risk of suicide than people without such a history. To quantify this risk, the authors calculated suicide rates per 1000 person-years at risk & the standardised mortality ratio (SMR) for suicide. Among male patients, the SMR for suicide in the first 28 days after discharge from inpatient care was 213; for females it was 134. Findings confirm that there is a significant clustering of suicide soon after discharge from psychiatric care.