Agenda item

To receive a report from the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health and the Director of Public Health, introducing the draft Suicide Prevention Needs Assessment for Kent.  Members are asked to comment on this and identify any areas in which they would like to see further research.

Mr T Woodhouse, Suicide Prevention Specialist, and Ms J Mookerjee, Public Health Consultant, were in attendance for this item.

1.            Ms Mookherjee and Mr Woodhouse introduced the report and highlighted the links with other areas of work such as substance misuse, mental health services and social isolation, and the work going on to address these areas.  They then responded to comments and questions from Members, including the following:-

a)    to address the link between both legal and illegal substance misuse and suicide, work was being undertaken with the Police, and links made to the Police Strategy.  Reports on the subject would be made regularly to the Crime Safety Partnership.  Drug use was also closely linked with homelessness, and work was ongoing to seek to address this; 

b)    the likelihood of ex-servicemen and women experiencing homelessness, and the link to social isolation, was well acknowledged, and the outcome of the Select Committee currently running was awaited with interest;

c)    a view was expressed that more information was needed about the link between homelessness, ex-offenders and ex-military and to seek to identify the reason for this link.  It was known that 50% of those taking their own lives had a history of self-harm, and it would be helpful to be able to understand more about this link and how it could be addressed.  Ms Mookherjee explained that men considering suicide were known not to tend to seek help. This tendency was deep-rooted among male occupations, not just in the military. Workplace health events could seek to encourage more openness;

d)    the extra money allocated to Kent by the Government was welcomed as excellent news;

e)    asked what follow-up work would be done after someone had been seen at Accident and Emergency after self-harming, Ms Mookherjee explained that a link would be made with the patient’s GP, to seek ongoing supervision.  However, this practice was not consistent across the county. Mr Woodhouse added that the Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust had identified this as an area of high risk and work was ongoing to seek new ways in which to support such patients; 

f)     Mr Woodhouse explained that a major review was being undertaken with the Kent Safeguarding Children Board to seek to identify the impact of suicide upon families, and the Children, Young People and Education strategy and action plan could be shared with the Health Reform and Public Health Cabinet Committee at a future meeting;

g)    asked how many cases there were of attempted suicide, Ms Mookherjee explained that these were hard to identify, as some people self-harmed without intending suicide;

h)    a view was expressed that mental health support should be made available to all, not just those who were at high risk of suicide.  Ms Mookherjee agreed that all lives saved were important.  She advised that a pilot scheme in West Kent was improving the treatment of depression and piloting urgent and crisis care.  Mr Woodhouse added that there were some countywide initiatives offering a 24-hour freephone helpline. These had been established using Government funding for innovation and it was hoped that they could be spread;

i)     in response to a question about how local elected Members could support someone who had come to them as a local representative to seek help with thoughts of suicide, Ms Mookherjee said that some online guidance and signposting could be provided, perhaps in conjunction with the Jo Cox Foundation, training could be made available to Members and a wallet-sized card giving a few bullet-point guidelines could be produced;

j)     a recent meeting between the NHS and Healthwatch had discussed signposting with existing initiatives, such as Live Well Kent, which was a key part of suicide prevention work;

k)    comments were made on the online accessibility of campaigns and a request made that they be made easier to find on the County Council website by using smart links. Mr Woodhouse advised that links would be established with Google so that anyone searching for ‘suicide’ would find the Release the Pressure campaign, and the same could be done with the County Council website; and

l)     asked if the Release the Pressure posters which had previously been displayed in the foyer of Sessions House could be reinstated, Mr Scott-Clark said he would liaise with the County Council press office to do this.

2.            The Cabinet Member, Mr Gibbens, responded to comments made during the debate and highlighted the range of referral pathways available to ex-offenders, via the Probation Service, young people of 18+ transitioning from CAMHS to adults’ mental health services, people with mental health needs accessing housing-related support via Porchlight, and support for ex-service personnel adjusting to civilian life as part of the Military Covenant between the County Council and the Armed Forces.  The Men’s Sheds projects around the county sought to address the need for men to network and find moral support, and he encouraged Members to visit their local Shed project. He undertook to look into the various points raised about the online accessibility and profile of suicide prevention campaigns.

3.         It was RESOLVED that Members’ comments on the Suicide Prevention Needs Assessment and suggestions of areas for further research, set out above, be noted.