Gordon Kochane, Public Health Consultant, Shropshire Council

The Board received the report of the Public Health Consultant which updated the Board on the local response to the recently published data indicating an increase in the local suicide rate and progress with delivery of the objectives within the Shropshire Suicide Prevention Strategy.

The Public Health Consultant thanked partners for supporting the recent World Suicide Prevention Day.  It was important to get the messages out there, to raise awareness of risk and the support that was available and to encourage more people to be confident and comfortable speaking about suicide and suicide risk in order to address the stigma that was often associated with it.

The Public Health Consultant introduced and amplified his report. He took Board Members through the latest data which indicated that the suicide rate for Shropshire had increased above the England Average (although more recently published data indicated that the rate had decreased slightly but was still high compared to previous years).  The Action Group were keen to understand the reasons behind this and recognised that it occurred during the covid/lockdown period.

In response, an exceptional meeting was held of the Shropshire Suicide Prevention Action Group and the Public Health Consultant explained the activities that were then undertaken which included an audit of coroner inquests with a verdict of death by suicide, enhancement of real time suspected suicide surveillance system and a new Suicide Death Review Panel in order to identify themes or trends happening in our communities that could benefit from a more immediate preventative or targeted response. 

The initial message from the audit was that there was nothing different to what the national evidence documented in terms of suicide and suicide risk.  They looked at 114 inquests and, like the national data, the majority were male, the most common age group being 35 to 54 with no difference by deprivation, half were in paid employment and a quarter of retirement age. Of those in employment, the following sectors feature heavily; agriculture, forestry and fishing, manufacturing, building and construction, professional, scientific/technical and the health sector, which also aligned with what was being seen nationally.  He explained that there was no data around suicide attempts or thoughts of suicide and that the Action Group were exploring how to capture that data.

The Public Health Consultant drew Board Members’ attention to the risk and life events prior to death data along with data around contact with services. He reported that a GP suicide prevention toolkit was being developed for launch in October which would support GPs in having those conversations if someone did present with thoughts of suicide including the use of language and how to have that conversation.  He went on to discuss progress with delivery of the Suicide Prevention Strategy, details of which were contained in the report. 

In conclusion, the Public Health Consultant reported that a Real Time Surveillance Co-ordinator had been appointed to work across, Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin on the expansion of the surveillance system.  He reminded the Board that Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin were one of the first local areas to establish a suicide bereavement service and had recently appointed a new bereavement officer who was keen to connect with all services, teams and offers throughout Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin.  He also drew attention to the counselling offer for those bereaved by suicide along with two survivors of bereavement by suicide peer support groups.  Finally, he highlighted the training that was available in order to promote a suicide risk aware workforce and enhanced offers that mitigated suicide risk and targeted higher risk groups.

Concern was raised that very rural areas tended to have higher rates of suicide especially amongst retired members of the farming community who perhaps felt there was nobody around who was interested or would listen to their concerns and although the work being done to engage with the farming community through the Shropshire Rural Support Network, which included visits to the livestock markets , was a good starting point, a lot of people just did not know where to go for support.  In response, the Public Health Consultant explained that this was something that they were exploring with those who work with the farming and rural communities, eg suppliers to farms, vets and others who they would engage with on a regular basis to explore how to promote offers and training and understanding better what would be helpful.

A brief discussion ensued around information sharing for other areas of the community who may also be in need of support, including those living with a cancer diagnosis, women going through the menopause and men on release from prison.  The Chief Officer, Shropshire Healthwatch drew attention to the Health and Wellbeing Champions within Stoke Heath prison who were trained to support other prisoners and wondered if they could be made aware of the training offers available.  Members agreed to contact the Public Health Consultant outside of the meeting with any links that they may feel would be useful.

The Executive Director of Health, Wellbeing and Prevention stated that it was critical that suicide awareness be owned by each member of the Board and suggested a recommendation be added that Board Members were committed to undertaking and refreshing their suicide awareness training and to take this through to their relevant boards.  The Public Health Consultant drew attention to bespoke training in the form of an online webinar being offered to Members, senior officers and members of the HWBB on 26 September at 5.30pm to 7pm.

Board Members RESOLVED to:

•        endorse the activities presented within this update

•        contribute and support the continued delivery of the Suicide Prevention Strategy and evolution and delivery of the Action Plan

•        support the recommendation that system partners continue to prioritise suicide prevention actions and promote the workforce to access suicide prevention training to help contribute towards efforts in reducing local deaths 

•        receive regular updates on progress with suicide prevention activity

•        undertake and refresh their suicide awareness training and to take this through to their relevant boards.