On Monday, the Government announced a new National Suicide Prevention Strategy, with over 100 actions to reduce the number of lives lost to suicide in England over the next two and a half years.
Over 100 measures have been outlined in the strategy aimed at saving lives, providing early intervention, and supporting anyone going through the trauma of a crisis. This includes:
- A new national alert system to notify relevant authorities – like schools, universities, and charities – of emerging methods of suicides and risks, and any required actions that can reduce access or limit awareness.
- Fresh guidance issued to first responders, recognising new and emerging methods and how such incidents should be dealt with.
- Near real-time surveillance of trends in tragic suicides to be introduced on a national scale this year – enabling more timely and targeted actions.
- A Government pledge to collaborate with countries around the world to target and stop suppliers of dangerous and lethal substances at the source.
Maggie commented:
There are over 5,000 lives lost to suicides each year in England and I welcome the Government’s commitment to bring down this unacceptable number in England. The National Suicide Prevention Strategy will help those in urgent need of care, allow relevant authorities to intervene and ultimately save lives.
