Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick
To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to reduce the rate of suicide.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Baroness Merron) (Lab)
My Lords, our Plan for Change clearly commits to a renewed focus on preventing suicides. We know that one-third of all suicides are committed by people who are in contact with mental health services, and our new 10-year health plan sets out how we will strengthen and improve those services. We are committed to delivering an ambitious cross-government suicide prevention strategy to extend our reach, and recently published the new Staying Safe from Suicide guidance.
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)
My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for her Answer. Wednesday 10 September is World Suicide Prevention Day; can my noble friend give the House further assurances that the Government are intent on delivering the suicide prevention strategy for England and the implementation of the ambitions contained therein? Will the Government work with civil society, including charities such as the Samaritans—which is currently subject to some restructuring—to ensure that suicide prevention is an integral part of the delivery of the NHS 10-year plan, to which the Minister has already referred?
Baroness Merron (Lab)
I am very pleased to be able to provide the assurances that my noble friend seeks. I reiterate our commitment to implementing the strategy. My colleagues and I continue to work closely with our trusted partners in civil and voluntary society and elsewhere. The Secretary of State will be joining the Samaritans this week at their World Suicide Prevention Day event. I am also pleased that the e-learning module from NHS England’s Staying Safe from Suicide guidance, which I mentioned earlier, will be launched later this week.
Baroness Browning (Con)
I know that the Minister has an interest in this. Would she please find time to read the report, published last week jointly by Cambridge and Bournemouth universities, on suicide and autism? Among all the neurodivergent conditions, autism has by far the highest suicide rate. It is not rocket science why; it is preventable and I know the Minister will do all she can to help get that figure down.
Baroness Merron (Lab)
The noble Baroness is quite right to speak as she has done. The suicide prevention strategy and the seven priority groups it identifies does include autistic people. As the noble Baroness will know, I think that is particularly key and I will certainly be pleased to look out for the report to which she refers.
Lord Scriven (LD)
My Lords, first, I welcome the Minister back to her place and wish her rudimentary health in the future.
Internationally, a co-ordinated government approach, as the noble Baroness said, is a proven factor in reducing suicide. She said moments ago that two-thirds of people who commit suicide are not actually involved in mental health services. In light of international practice, where the best success rates are when co-ordination is dealt with not by one department but across government, would the Government look at potentially moving this to the Cabinet Office, rather than it being led purely by the Department of Health?
Baroness Merron (Lab)
I thank the noble Lord for his warm welcome back to the Dispatch Box in full health. The noble Lord makes an interesting suggestion. I will be co-ordinating a cross-government suicide prevention approach. It is the case, as the noble Lord alludes to, that this cannot be solved by DHSC alone. However, it is where it is placed presently and I assure him of the cross-government commitment we are making, and also how that will be developed so that it is much more meaningful than it is at present.
Baroness Watkins of Tavistock (CB)
My Lords, I too welcome back the Minister. With her leadership in this area, how will she ensure that the e-learning programme, which I am delighted is now ready, will be extended way beyond mental health practitioners? For example, school nurses, health visitors and many community nurses would benefit from undertaking that module. To do so, they would need additional time as part of their continuing professional development. Can the Minister confirm that that will be considered?
Baroness Merron (Lab)
I thank the noble Baroness as well for her kind comments. I assure her that the whole point about the e-learning module is that it can extend to people beyond those in mental health services. As I mentioned, only one-third of those who die by suicide are in contact with mental health services. Of the other two-thirds, a number are in contact with other health services, or other services, while some are in contact with none. There is a lot of work to do in this area and I am looking forward to developing it in the way that the noble Baroness referred.
Lord Kamall (Con)
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Ritchie, for raising this important issue today. The Minister will be aware that the data on suicides shows some disparities: for example, men make up three-quarters of reported suicides and the north-east of England has a suicide rate nearly twice as high as that of London. What research are the Government aware of that explains such disparities? What is being done in local communities, especially by civil society organisations, to try to reduce the rates of suicide in those communities?
Baroness Merron (Lab)
The noble Lord is right that there is disparity, which is often linked to priority risk factors, including, for example, financial difficulty, physical health, alcohol and drug abuse, harmful gambling, domestic abuse, social isolation and loneliness. Those priority risk factors are, sadly, more at play in the more disadvantaged areas to which the noble Lord referred. As we seek to develop further the effectiveness of the strategy—we have made great progress so far, but it is not enough—we need to ensure that the whole country is attended to and that we address the risk factors for suicide for everybody.
Baroness Berger (Lab)
My Lords, I too extend my warm welcome to my colleague; it is fantastic to see my noble friend back on the Front Bench. In our country, the greatest killer of women in the year after birth is suicide. What are my noble friend and her department specifically doing, within the suicide prevention strategy, to look at this very serious issue? What can we do to stop these tragedies, which affect not only the mothers but their children?
Baroness Merron (Lab)
I thank my noble friend for her comments and kindness. She is quite right that maternal health is absolutely key and to speak about the impact not only on mothers but on their children. We have developed a considerable programme for mental health well-being. We are also recruiting 8,500 mental health workers to reduce delays and provide fast treatment, because we need to ease pressure on what are incredibly busy mental health services. The area to which my noble friend referred is key and will be part of our development on maternity provision.
Lord Stirrup (CB)
My Lords, suicide rates among veterans as a whole are broadly in line with those of the population at large, but they are much higher among younger veterans, both men and women. There is evidence that, in the past, the NHS has struggled to understand the mental needs of such veterans. What is being done to improve the situation?
Baroness Merron (Lab)
The noble and gallant Lord raises an important point. I have been in discussion about a whole range of matters around veterans’ health with the Veterans Minister, and I would be very pleased to discuss this further with him in the way that the noble and gallant Lord described.
Lord Oates (LD)
My Lords, the Minister will be aware of the excellent work done by Samaritans’ volunteer listening service. Is she aware of its grave concern over plans to close over half of local Samaritans branches? Can she tell us what assessment the Government have made of the impact of those changes? Will she meet with representatives of those volunteers to discuss their concerns?
Baroness Merron (Lab)
I regularly meet with the Samaritans and doubtless will be doing so again soon. I know it is a matter for the Samaritans to decide how best to use its resources, but I will gladly speak with them.