- Government delivers on key commitment in National Suicide
Prevention Strategy to help thousands more people approaching
crisis to get the support they need
- Near to real-time suicide surveillance system for England
launched, with government working with police to quickly gather
vital data on tragic suicides including gender, age group, and
method
- Milestone will support rollout of new national alert system
to notify schools, universities, and charities of emerging
methods of suicide and risks
Efforts to tackle emerging methods of suicide and clamp down on
those seeking to sell dangerous products to vulnerable people
were bolstered today, as the government delivered on a key
commitment in its National Suicide Prevention Strategy and
launched a new suicide surveillance system.
Working alongside the National Police Chiefs’ Council to bring
together important local intelligence, the government will obtain
near to real-time data
from across the country on deaths by suspected suicide by gender,
age group, and method.
Previously, the only suicide data available at a national level
was provided by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), but it
could take up to two years for the official ONS data to come
through. From today [Thursday 30 November], however, the data
will be received from individual police forces in England and the
government will get it within three months of a
suspected suicide.
Female deaths by suicide, for example, are increasing at a higher
rate than male deaths therefore it’s imperative such trends are
captured as early as possible and preventative measures put in
place to save lives.
A monthly report on the new datasets will be published by the
government, and it will act as an early warning system for
indications of any change in tragic suicides.
The new datasets will also support the future rollout of a
national alert system on emerging methods or risks, so anyone who
comes into contact with potentially dangerous new methods of
suicide will have a direct link into central government to report
it. Through this, alerts will soon be circulated to all
authorities like schools and charities who should be aware and
may be required to take mitigating action.
Mental Health Minister said:
“Every suicide is a tragedy and has a devastating, enduring
impact on families and communities, but we are working at pace to
reduce the number of suicides, support those reaching the lowest
point, and tackle emerging methods and harmful online
material.
“The national suspected suicide surveillance system is vital
to achieving this, and will provide important near real-time data
so we can spot anomalies in age, gender and method more quickly
and take the necessary action to save lives.”
The National Suicide Prevention Strategy launched earlier this
year saw the government pledge to reduce England’s suicide
rate within two and a half years, with the commitment backed by
more than 100 measures.
It is already an offence under the Suicide Act to encourage or
assist suicide. The Online Safety Act goes even further to tackle
these crimes, while also ensuring the largest social media
companies proactively prevent people from seeing content that
encourages or assists suicide.
Today’s data for England for the 15 months to August 2023 does
not indicate an obvious change in trend in overall suspected
suicide rates over the period.Suspected suicide rates do show a
reduction in the most recent months, but it should be noted there
are contributing factors and the situation continues to be
monitored.
National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for Suicide
Prevention, Assistant Chief Constable Charlie Doyle,
said:
“Suicide has a devastating impact, we must do all we can to
protect people and reduce preventable death.
“We welcome today’s announcement by the government and will
continue to work with partners to reduce
suicide.”
The government is investing £2.3 billion extra a year into mental
health services to help an additional two million people access
NHS-funded mental health support by 2024, and we’ve recently
launched a £10 million fund for the voluntary sector in England
to carry out crucial work to save lives until 2025.
£150 million is being invested up to April 2025 to better support
people experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, mental health
crises. This will support the roll-out of mental health
ambulances and delivery of over 160 projects - including
alternatives to A&E - to ensure people can receive specialist
care in appropriate spaces and help ease pressure on the NHS.
The NHS Long Term Workforce
Plan also sets out an ambition to grow the mental health
workforce by 73% by 2036 to 2037, and the workforce already
continues to grow to help cut waiting lists.
Support is available for anyone experiencing suicidal thoughts on
the NHS website.
