Agenda item

Report of Dr Jane Moore, Director of Public Health

The Board considered a report of Dr Jane Moore, Director of Public Health, which sought endorsement for ‘One Suicide/ One too Many – A Suicide Prevention Strategy for Coventry 2016-2019’, a copy of which was attached at an appendix to the report. Suicide prevention became a local authority responsibility in 2013 and this strategy aimed to set out the scale of the issue and suggest what action Coventry could take to address it.

The report indicated that suicide was the leading cause of death for adults under the age of 50 and action was required to avoid these unnecessary deaths. Recent guidance from Public Health England recommended that every local authority should develop a suicide prevention action plan, access data on local suicide characteristics and develop a multi-sector agency approach to reducing suicides. Suicide prevention had also been identified as an area of focus for the West Midlands Combined Authority.

An initial draft strategy for suicide prevention was developed by Terry Rigby from the suicide prevention Social Enterprise Forward for Life in 2015. This was then updated to reflect the national recommendations and the progress made locally, with a particular focus on the strategy work completed by Warwickshire. The document now reflected the joint strategic vision across the Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP).

The Board were informed that the vision was to realise a city that had zero suicides. In working towards this vision the strategy set out the following three core aims:

·  Raise the level of understanding and awareness across Coventry of suicidal ideation, behaviours, acts and the impact of suicide acts across our communities

·  To highlight key areas of service development and demonstrate ways forward to assist services in supporting Coventry to be ‘Suicide Safer’

·  To set out a clear action plan to mobilise all sectors to reduce suicidal behaviour across the city.

In working towards this vision, it was planned to adopt a close working relationship with Warwickshire, with action being shared across the region. Both strategies had actions set against the following seven priority areas:

·  Reducing the risk of suicide in key high risk groups

·  Tailoring approaches to improve mental health in specific groups

·  Reducing access to the means of suicide

·  Reducing the impact of suicide

·  Supporting the media in delivering sensitive approaches to suicide and suicidal behaviour

·  Improving data and evidence

·  Working together

Following approval of the strategy, the next step would be to bring together a variety of partners in a Task and Finish Group to discuss and take forward practical action to address suicidal behaviour and the reasons underlying it with a safer suicide community approach.

The Board acknowledged the importance of the work of the West Midlands Combined Authority Mental Health Commission which aimed to make a huge difference to people with mental health problems in the region as well as reducing the numbers of people that take their own lives.

RESOLVED that:

(1) The Coventry Suicide Prevention Strategy 2016-19 be endorsed.

(2) Individual organisations be requested to consider how they could make a contribution to reducing suicides in Coventry.

(3) Agreement be given that a multiagency Task and Finish Group be set up to develop the plan and integrate the actions into the relevant Boards and Agencies represented in the Health and Wellbeing board and beyond.

(4) Progress against the action plan be monitored on an annual basis.

(5) The Coventry Suicide Prevention Strategy to be revisited at the next Board meeting on 6^th February, 2017 alongside the West Midlands Combined Authority Mental Health Commission.