Agenda item

Dr Nicola Lang (Director of Public Health) introduced the item which presented the Council’s suicide prevention strategy, approved by Cabinet on 3 March 2025.

She noted that the strategy was framed around three main concepts – See, Say, Signpost:

·      See – we should monitor and understand local suicide data and recognise the factors that increased the risk of suicidality to be able to identify risk factors and target groups at greater risk and provide focussed support.

·      Say - share information with a multi-agency partnership that would take responsibility for reducing the local suicide rate by capitalising on individual expertise and resident touch points.

·      Signpost – we should signpost residents to appropriate and effective support that was suitable for their needs. We must ensure that a range of services were available and accessible, addressing the risk factors that were seen locally. And strengthen referral routes between services to make sure that the right support can be proactively signposted to by any service the resident has contacted.

Dr Lang discussed the primary demographics (white, middle-aged males) and risk factors (substance misuse) associated with suicide. She also highlighted some of the prevention work done to date, including discharge packs for mental health patients, a refined bereavement offer, and an awareness campaign launched in September of 2024.

The Chair thanked Dr Lang for the strategy and stressed that every life lost to suicide was a tragedy. She then opened the item up for questions.

Councillor Natalia Perez welcomed the strategy and asked for more information on the multi-agency approach. Dr Lang said, thanks to the police, the Public Health team had access to real time notifications alerting officers to unexplained deaths that required checks. She also noted there were two boards in place. The Suicide Case Review which included representatives from adult social care, mental health services, drug and alcohol services, and housing. It was a confidential meeting that reviewed cases in tranches and tried to take immediate learning points to prevent future cases. There was also a Suicide Prevention Strategy Group which included representatives from criminal justice, the ICS, and Healthwatch.

Nadia Taylor (Healthwatch) asked for a brief summary of actions taken to remedy this issue and why Hammersmith & Fulham had the highest rate of suicide in London. She also highlighted a suicide prevention event held by Healthwatch in September. The Chair said the strategy contained detail of work taken to date and actions planned to prevent future deaths. She also noted that the data lagged and the borough may not have the highest rate anymore. Dr Lang added that the statistics on suicide were very sensitive because they were relatively small numbers. However, she noted that all risk factors would be addressed, even if they pertained to one death.

Dr James Cavanagh (H&F GP) noted that Primary Care Networks were investing in active reviews of patients with severe mental illnesses. He felt there were good links with services like Turning Point who could support people with dependency issues. Health recognised the need to take a proactive approach with people who had high risk factors. He noted they were also involved in the case reviews following any suicide so learning could be shared with health and other providers.

RESOLVED

1. That the Health & Wellbeing Board noted the Suicide Prevention Strategy 2024-2027, adopted by Cabinet on 3 March 2025.