Agenda item

Public Health have submitted a report to inform the Health and Wellbeing Board of the Leicestershire, Leicester City and Rutland (LLR) Suicide Prevention Strategy. The report shows ambitions of the local Suicide Audit and Prevention Group (SAPG) to promote partnership to build on current efforts to support people at risk of death by suicide and people who have been affected by suicide.

The Consultant in Public Health presented the report and updated the board on the consultation for the draft suicide prevention strategy refresh for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR). It was noted that:

• Suicide affected many people and the ambition was to make the Strategy everybody’s business, by empowering, educating and equipping individuals and organisations to support suicide awareness prevention.
• Leicestershire Police provided real time surveillance data for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. The data was important to allow contact with the families of those affected by suicide.
• The suicide rate for all persons in Leicester was 11.1 per 100,000 population for the period 2021-2023. The rate was not significantly different to the national average suicide rate of 10.7 per 100,000.
• Year to year the rate of suicide was variable due to the size of the population.
• The national rate had been increasing since 2021 and Leicester’s rates followed the same increase, based on economic difficulties people were experiencing in the city, which resonated with the Health and Wellbeing Strategy.
• There was a local strategy which was overseen by the Suicide Audit and Prevention Group and Leicester’s local suicide prevention work benefited from the real time surveillance data provided.
• The unexpected deaths reported in 2023 were predominantly white males. There was a priority group for suicide prevention in white males. Ages 50-54 were the largest age group, although it tended to be across the board.

The National Suicide Prevention Strategy’s ambitions were:

o   Reduce the suicide rate over the next 5 years, with initial reductions observed within half this time or sooner.

o   Continue to improve support for people who self-harm.

o   Continue to improve support for people who have been bereaved by suicide.

Priorities in the National Suicide Prevention Strategy were:

o   Promoting online safety and responsible media content to reduce harms, improve support and signposting, and provide helpful messages about suicide and self-harm.

o   Providing effective crisis support across sectors for those who reach crisis point.

o   Reducing access to means and methods of suicide where this is appropriate and necessary as an intervention to prevent suicides.

o   Providing effective bereavement support to those affected by suicide.

o   Making suicide everybody’s business so that we can maximise our collective impact and support to prevent suicides

Risk factors and high-risk groups were noted as:

o   Children and Young people

o   Middle aged men

o   Autistic people

o   Pregnant women and new mothers

Other risk factors included:

o   People who misuse alcohol and drugs

o   Armed forces personal and the veteran community

o   Female nurses

o   Financial instability and hardship, including unemployment

o   Relationship breakdown

o   Homelessness

o   LGBTQ + people

o   Domestic abuse

o   Childhood abuse, sexual trauma, and combat-related trauma are all associated with increased suicide risk.

o   Gypsy or Irish Travellers

LLR Strategy Key Messages:

o   Suicide is everybody’s business

o   Suicides were not inevitable

o   Suicide has a wide impact

o   Some people are at higher risk of suicide

o   Mental health is as important as physical health

o   Early intervention is vital

• During the consultation for the strategy, staff members went out to gather views and comments from the public on the strategy and implemented the recommendations made from the consultation. There were also focus groups with people who had been affected by suicide.
• The writing and delivery of the draft LLR suicide prevention strategy had been overseen by a steering group, which also included people from statutory, voluntary and community sector organisations and people with lived experience.
• The key priorities included:
  • Enabling partners, including educational establishments, to use sound evidence and proven measures to target and support children and young people at risk of suicide.
  • Targeted support and resources at higher risk groups and locations, as identified by local and national data and evidence.
  • Improve our local understanding of self-harm and support people with a history of self-harm.
  • Providing effective bereavement support to those affected by suicide.
  • Leadership and working with partners and communities to support their role within suicide prevention.

• During the consultation 173 responses were received from people across the LLR. There were also 3 focus groups on top of the consultation.
• The feedback from the consultation was positive, with room for improvement.

Positive Feedback:

•  Good priorities
• Looking forward to seeing change
• Important
• Comprehensive
• Evidence based
• Well written with an empathic tone
• Excellent key messages
• Easy to understand
• Co-ordinated response

Room for improvement:

• Need to be more ambitious
• Focus on wider determinants
• Gain more funding for projects
• Teach self-esteem and resilience
• Focus on male suicide
• Reduce barriers to accessing mental health support

The next step was to develop an action plan, which would come to a future board meeting and subsequently  be updated on a yearly basis.

In response to questions and comments from members, it was noted that:

• A project had commenced called Mental Health Friendly Places, which would roll out accredited mental health training to any public facing businesses and organisations. The focus for 2025 was to work with businesses such as Hairdressers, Barbers and Tattoo Parlours.
• A new section had been launched alongside the Mental Health Friendly Places, called Mental Health Friendly Clubs. Its purpose was toupskill people to have confident conversations around mental health in local communities. To help them to reach those people who fly under the radar and don’t reach out for support and to help people before they reach that point of crisis.
•  Leicester had an amazing Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) that helps support people with their mental health until they are able to reach those statutory services.
• Significant work had taken place that people may not have thought related to suicide prevention but did, such as priorities within  prevention and a focus on health inequalities  for those with serious mental and ill health who are suffering from social isolation.
• Another serious risk factor was gambling addictions. A health needs assessments was currently being completed on gambling and  a strategy was being developed to reduce gambling harms. A meeting was due to take place with someone whose partner took their own life due to gambling to help understand how the strategy could be taken forward.
• Suicide is everyone’s business, was a very important statement. When someone takes their own life, it is hard to look back and recognise the signs.
• The Mental Health Cafes were a great service that was available for people who were feeling isolated and was an excellent initiative. Mental health is as important as physical health.

The Chair emphasised that mental health was just as important as physical health. While this belief was widely held, it was noted that, as a country, this recognition was not always reflected in the allocation of resources. Concern was expressed that mental health issues were not being addressed with the same level of commitment as physical health, and that greater parity was needed. It was requested that this be reflected in reports presented to the Board, where there was currently a stronger focus on physical health. It was highlighted that only by addressing mental health openly can it become more acceptable to discuss. The significant impact of this work over the past few years was acknowledged, and appreciation was expressed for the efforts of the team.

AGREED:

That the report was noted.