Universities UK (UUK) and PAPYRUS, the UK’s national charity
dedicated to the prevention of young suicide, have today
published new guidance to
help university leaders prevent student suicides.
The guide will be launched this afternoon as university leaders
meet in Sheffield for UUK’s annual conference. Professor Hugh
Brady, Vice-Chancellor and President, University of Bristol, will
discuss suicide in the student population alongside Nina Clarke,
Deputy CEO of Papyrus and , father of Ben, who took
his own life while a student.
At least 95 university students took their own lives in the last
academic year. Although new
data published by the Office for National Statistics
shows that there is a significantly lower rate of student suicide
among university students in England and Wales compared with the
general population, university leaders have said that there is no
room for complacency.
The guide includes advice on developing a strategy focused
specifically on suicide prevention, covering the following areas:
- Steps to prevent student suicide
- Intervening when students get into difficulties
- Best practice for responding to student suicides
- Case studies on approaches to suicide prevention through
partnership working
- Checklist highlighting steps university leaders can take to
make their communities safer
Professor Steve West, Vice-Chancellor of UWE Bristol and
Chair of UUK’s Mental Health in Higher Education Advisory Group,
said: “When students take their own lives, it has a
profound impact on family, friends, staff and students. This new
guide offers practical advice on understanding and preventing
suicide, as well as guidance on how best to support those most
affected.
“We urge university leaders to work with their student support
services to develop a strategy which focuses on preventing,
intervening, and responding to suicide as part of an overall
mental health strategy. Students and staff must be at the centre
of this, and senior leadership within universities must build on
their relationships with local authorities and the NHS to achieve
real change.”
Nina Clarke, PAPYRUS deputy chief executive
said: “PAPYRUS has many years’ experience working in
community-based suicide prevention initiatives, including
universities. We were therefore delighted to be asked to
co-produce this guide. Universities UK is in a position to raise
greater awareness of the guide among institutions of higher
education than we might do on our own. We hope that all
universities will step up to this and we stand ready to support
them in becoming suicide-safer.”
, father of Ben Murray,
said: “Our son Ben was amongst the two thirds of
sudden deaths involving students not previously known to support
services. We sincerely hope that the number of sudden deaths will
reduce over time, but hope is not a strategy, and that’s why this
guidance is so important.”
Notes to editors
-
This
guidance is a shortened version aimed at university
leaders. An extensive guide for university practitioners will
be released next week.
- In September 2017, UUK published a framework to
help improve the mental health and wellbeing of university
students. The Stepchange
framework is aimed at supporting university leaders to
help embed good mental health across all university activities.
- In May 2018 UUK published Minding our Future,
new guidance to improve the coordination of care between the
NHS and universities so that all students can access the care
they need.
- Universities UK is the collective voice of 137 universities
in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Its mission is
to create the conditions for UK universities to be the best in
the world; maximising their positive impact locally, nationally
and globally. Universities UK acts on behalf of universities,
represented by their heads of institution. Visit: www.universitiesuk.ac.uk
- In the UK suicide is the main cause of death in young people
under 35. Every year over 1,600 take their own lives. PAPYRUS
believes that many are preventable. The charity provides
practical advice and support – how to cope, what to say and do -
to young people and others concerned that a young person may be
at risk of killing themselves. For practical, confidential
suicide prevention help and advice contact PAPYRUS HOPELINEUK tel
0800 068 41 41 text 07786 209 697 emailpat@papyrus-uk.org
