Suicide prevention: interim report

Suicide prevention: interim report

Government Response to the Health Select Committee's Inquiry into Suicide Prevention

Conclusion

Our evidence has made clear that suicide is preventable and that much more can and should be done to support vulnerable individuals. We look forward to the publication of the Government’s refreshed suicide prevention strategy and we hope to see the crucial points we have addressed in this short report taken into account. We will scrutinise the updated strategy and will hold a follow-up hearing with key stakeholders to hear their views before publishing a full report. 

https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmhealth/300/300.pdf

Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 13 December 2016

This pre-dates the appointment of the suicide prevention minister.

Can't really see much in the way of action, unless reading the report twice means that they were thorough.



Formal Minutes

Tuesday 13 December 2016
Members present:
Dr Sarah Wollaston, in the Chair
Heidi Alexander
Dr James Davies
Luciana Berger
Andrea Jenkyns
Rosie Cooper
Andrew Selous

Draft Report (Suicide prevention: interim report), proposed by the Chair, brought up and 
read.

Ordered, That the draft Report be read a second time, paragraph by paragraph.

Paragraphs 1 to 37 read and agreed to.

Resolved, That the Report be the Fourth Report of the Committee to the House.

Ordered, That the Chair make the Report to the House.

Ordered, That embargoed copies of the Report be made available, in accordance with the provisions of Standing Order No. 134.


Adjourned till Tuesday 10 January at 9.45am.


And almost from an episode of Yes, Prime Minister


Conclusions and recommendations

Implementation
1. The refreshed suicide prevention strategy must be underpinned by a clear
implementation strategy, with strong national leadership, clear accountability, and
regular and transparent external scrutiny. In the words of a bereaved parent, “we
cannot allow more lives to be lost because we do not have effective governance and
implementation”. (Paragraph 11)
2. We recommend that the Government’s updated strategy should include a clear
implementation programme, with strong external scrutiny of local authority
plans and progress. Local areas also need a clear message from the top that suicide
prevention plans are mandatory. (Paragraph 12) 

There are some things you just can't write

It was only last week that MP's appointed a suicide prevention Minister.

Q: What is a cause of suicide?

A: Bullying

Q: Who has been accused of bullying in a recent report?

A: M.P.'s


What did I tell you?

Or as the late Frank Carson would have said "It's the way I tell 'em!"

or even "It's a cracker!"

Suicide prevention Minister

From the BBC website

World Mental Health Day:

PM appoints suicide prevention minister

10 October 2018

A minister for suicide prevention has been appointed in England by the prime minister as the government hosts the first ever global mental health summit.

Theresa May said the appointment of Health Minister Jackie Doyle-Price to the new role will help tackle the stigma surrounding suicide.

While suicide rates are falling, 4,500 people take their own lives every year.

The appointment comes as ministers and officials from more than 50 countries assemble in London for the summit.

Wednesday's meeting - hosted by Health Secretary Matt Hancock and attended by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge - coincides with World Mental Health Day.

The government has also promised more support in schools, bringing in new mental health support teams and offering help in measuring students' health, including their mental wellbeing.

Ms May said: "We can end the stigma that has forced too many to suffer in silence and prevent the tragedy of suicide taking too many lives."

Alongside the announcement, the prime minister pledged £1.8m to the Samaritans so the charity can continue providing its free helpline for the next four years.

Hannah Lewis - who campaigns for improvements to mental health services having suffered from panic attacks, anxiety and suicidal thoughts as a teenager - said that it can be a year before someone who is referred for help actually begins treatment.

She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Mental health is known to deteriorate when you are left without help, and you can only imagine how things got worse with me." said her mental health issues dated back to when she was a child

Ms Lewis welcomed the government's announcement - especially the proposals to bring more awareness of mental health into schools - but she added: "More joined-up working at schools and early intervention is great, but we need to make sure then there are sufficient services to be signposted to."

Mrs Doyle-Price, who has been an MP since 2010, will now become the minister for mental health, inequalities and suicide prevention.

As health is devolved separately to the UK's four nations, her role will include making sure each local area in England has effective plans to stop unnecessary deaths and to look into how technology could help identify those at risk. 2010

She said she understood the "tragic, devastating and long-lasting" effect of suicide on families, having met some of those bereaved.

"It's these people who need to be at the heart of what we do," she added.

Manchester University's Prof Louis Appleby, one of the country's leading experts on suicide, said having a minister for suicide prevention would "open doors" and make it easier to have conversations about the role such things as benefits and online gambling have in suicidal people's lives.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the appointment would also help with getting support for mental illness on a par with services for physical health.

"There is a long road to travel to get there. This is not something you solve overnight," he said.

But others criticised the government's record on mental health.  Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of mental health charity Sane, said there had not been enough improvements to services since Mrs May pledged to tackle the issue two years ago.

"While we applaud the intention [of the announcement], it is striking that the UK should be hosting such a summit when we hear daily about people left untreated due to a lack of nurses and doctors," she said.

"The prime minister must examine our own mental health system before addressing other countries."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45804225

Unless Mrs Doyle-Price is going to make some changes in the law, I can't see her appointment making any difference to suicide caused by bullying.