Agenda item

The Director of Public Health submits a report to update the Public Health and Health Integration Scrutiny Commission about the latest work on Suicide Prevention and to promote mental wellbeing in Leicester.

The Director of Public Health submitted a report to update the Public Health and Health Integration Scrutiny Commission about the latest work on Suicide Prevention and to promote mental wellbeing in Leicester.

The Suicide Prevention Officer gave a presentation and made the following points:

• The focus was on reaching people that are at higher risk of suicide and providing early intervention.
• The data showed that people who took their own life were often not known through statutory services, so it was necessary to take the work the service did out to people.
• Real time real-time suicide surveillance data was collected and the service worked very closely with Leicestershire Police, Leicester Fire Service and Network Rail.
• Weekly meetings took place with Leicestershire Police to look at the data from the previous week of any suspected suicide. This acted as an immediate response in place to communities.
• Multi-agency work looked at high-risk locations and our high-risk groups.
• In the past year there were 26 suspected deaths by suicide in the city.  This was similar to the national average.
• The Mental Health Regulator acted as accredited mental health and suicide prevention training through public facing and business leaders, organisations and community groups.  Organisations were trained to recognise signs and symptoms of poor mental health.  This helped to break down the stigma associated with mental health and helped organisations know where to signpost people for support.
• 103 organisations were ‘Mental Health Friendly’, including sports clubs which allowed people to have conversations.
• Resource packs were provided and could be passed over discreetly.
• The key focus was on men aged 35-54 as they were the highest risk group, consisting of 75% of suicides.
• A men’s mental health conference had been put on, to try and increase awareness of what was on offer.  A video was shown on this.  Link to video: https://www.canva.com/design/DAG6phFNfoo/BtgE8jZWTUEPqmxdeSAPOw/edit
• Specific men’s mental health was being co-produced, this included a booklet which could be given to people, for example, if they were discharged from hospital following a suicide attempt.

In response to member and Young People’s Council (YPC) member questions and discussions, the following was noted:

• Leicestershire and Rutland Football Association had been worked with, and clubs had trained welfare officers who delivered sessions known as ‘my space, my game’, whereby anybody could attend to play and then were invited to the clubhouse to talk to trained staff.
• It was noted that some people in the focus group had not realised that the issues they were experiencing were mental health issues.
• It was suggested that questions on low mood and suicide could be included in the NHS Health Checks.  The possibility of this could be considered, although it was noted that the NHS Health Checks were commissioned on strict criteria, and it was necessary to avoid ‘mission creep’, making the survey too wide-ranging.
• In response to comments about the need for places for people to talk and the emergence of some faith-based groups, it was noted that the Business Intelligence Team had been consulted regarding the demographics of suicide victims.  Local groups had been useful as it had been noticed that men responded to peer-support, and the more groups that were encouraged, the better the chance of reaching men.
• In terms of health inequalities, mental health and social isolation were being considered.
• The numbers of child suicides were small, but would be covered in the CDOP Annual Report coming to the Commission.
• The way the team approached the issue was very effective, but more could always be done.
• In terms of locality friendly spaces for men, it was noted that there were many spaces specifically for men, and the existing organisations were looking at adding resources for men. 
• Regarding specific mental health training, it was important to get people feeling more confident about gender differences and internal stigma for men.
• With regard to queries about where people could go in a crisis, it was noted that it was necessary to reach people where they were to avoid them reaching a crisis.  It was aimed to make a safety-plan so that if people were struggling, there was a plan that they had written with someone including safety factors, including what support there was and how they could distract themselves.
• With regard to a query about targeting younger people to avoid them thinking that they couldn’t reach out, it was noted that the mentality appeared to be different for younger people compared to those in the 35-54 age-group.  Young people had been written into the strategy as a high-risk group and more would be coming.  It was further noted that key messaging was important, and being open in lessons at school could play a part.
• With regard to a point made about targeting areas where more people were at risk of suicide, it was explained that areas with higher rates were cross-referenced and the service were doing well at getting mental health friendly places into those areas.
• Issues surrounding care-leavers could be referred to the Corporate Parenting Board.
• With regard to the booklet, organisations could distribute it.  Focus groups had been asked where they thought it should be, suggestions had included GP surgeries, local gazettes, social media and making it available through QR codes.

AGREED:

1)    That the report be noted.

2)    That comments made by members of this commission to be taken into account.

3)    That consideration be given to looking into including questions on low mood and suicide in the NHS Health Checks