All-Party Parliamentary Group calls for compulsory local suicide prevention strategies

13-2-2013 — /europawire.eu/ — An all-party group of MPs and Peers has called for all local authorities to be required to develop and implement a suicide prevention strategy. Their inquiry discovered that current rules do not put councils under any obligation to take action in this crucial area.

The report of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Suicide and Self-Harm Prevention, published today, reveals that more than a quarter (27%) of local authorities* in England do not have any specific suicide prevention strategy. The existence of any such plan is open to chance rather than determined by any national policy.

One of the APPG’s main recommendations is that each local council should be required by the Government to develop a suicide prevention plan led by the Director of Public Health or senior member of the public health team. The plan should include provision for self-harm prevention and those bereaved by suicide.

The Parliamentarians have also recommended that local authorities should establish a suicide prevention group. Nearly half of the councils surveyed had no such group. These bodies have been instrumental in developing programmes tailored to local needs.

Only a third of local councils (50 of 152) reported funding for specific suicide prevention programmes. The APPG noted the danger that health and wellbeing boards may neglect suicide prevention when faced with other public health demands on limited resources.

The Inquiry sought to establish the challenges and opportunities for local suicide prevention plans against the backdrop of a new national strategy to prevent suicide in England (published in September 2012) and the reorganisation of health and public health structures brought about by the Health and Social Care Act 2012. The Inquiry involved a Call for Evidence from all local authorities, Directors of Public Health and PCT Clusters in England and four evidence sessions in the House of Commons. Freedom of Information requests ensured that the overall response to the Inquiry rate was 98% of all 152 local authorities in England.

The publication of the report comes a week after the release of the Office of National Statistics suicide figures for 2011: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/subnational-health4/suicides-in-the-united.

Other Key Findings of the Report include:

• National and local leadership is vital to local suicide prevention plans. Often, leadership emerges in the form of “local champions” who exist by chance. Reliance on the random appearance of committed individuals is an inherent weakness of local suicide prevention plans.
• An analysis of Group membership showed patchy and inconsistent engagement by the police, coroners and GPs at a local level. Regional prevention groups or networks provide a means to pool valuable resources across local authority areas.
• There is no formal mechanism for suicide prevention groups to report directly to health and wellbeing boards. Without such a link, suicide prevention may not reach the agenda (vital for the commissioning of services) and groups will be working in isolation, undermining their value and ultimately jeopardising their future.

The Report makes 23 recommendations. These include:

Department of Health

• Publication and provision of guidance to Health and Wellbeing Boards to formalise regular contact with the local suicide prevention group.
• Work with Home Office and the Association of Chief Police Officers to facilitate police representation on health and wellbeing boards.

Health and Wellbeing Boards

• Ensure that suicide and self-harm are addressed in the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment beyond being a measure.
• Facilitate regular communication with local suicide prevention group.

Director of Public Health

• In areas where there is no plan or group, consider development of both as a priority.

The Chair of the APPG, Madeleine Moon MP said:

The Report highlights the degree to which local suicide prevention plans across England have been left to chance since the publication of the first National Suicide Prevention Strategy in 2002, and how this situation is unlikely to improve.

Without a legal requirement for local authorities to implement strategies in their areas or establish suicide prevention groups, it’s unlikely that there will be a substantial reduction in the number of lives lost.

I hope the Report will be seen as making a constructive contribution to suicide prevention in England and elsewhere and that recommendations will be implemented. The APPG will be engaging with all the key agencies identified in the Report to ensure suicide prevention receives the attention it deserves.

Catherine Johnstone, Chief Executive of Samaritans said:

While we welcome the new national suicide prevention strategy, it’s essential that an appropriate public body must have the responsibility to lead and coordinate action across agencies and promote the involvement of voluntary organisations at local level. This is vital if we’re to achieve the joined-up approach necessary to make real headway in reducing the numbers of unnecessary deaths.

We wholeheartedly support the recommendations made in this Report as they’ll enable us to focus attention on the needs faced by disadvantaged men in their middle years, a group our research shows to be at especially high risk of suicide.

–  ENDS –

Notes to Editors

*This refers to the 152 County Councils and unitary authorities in England

• The Future of Local Suicide Prevention Plans in England will be launched at 10.30am on January 29^th in Committee Room 20
• All enquiries should be directed to Jennifer Humphreys, Parliamentary Researcher to Madeleine Moon MP humphreysj@parliament.uk / 0207 219 0814
• For enquiries to Samaritans, please contact Guy Roberts, Senior Press Officer g.roberts@samaritans.org / 020 8394 8348 / 07943 809162
• Samaritans’ research into the suicide risks surrounding middle aged men from deprived background