Interviews

Suicide prevention call

by Mark Rowe

In London recently there have been fatalities and suicide attempts involving people falling from height from buildings in the City. City of London Police has asked businesses and occupiers of premises to deter further incidents wherever possible. The force has asked building occupants to raise awareness with staff so they can be vigilant to this issue; and to review safety arrangements to ensure that any potential areas where people could fall from are made secure and/or monitored. Any risk to life incident must be reported by dialling 999.

Jumping from a high place is an important method of suicide to address, says the Department of Health (DH).

Last month, on World Suicide Prevention Day, Care Services Minister Norman Lamb launched a new ‘Suicide Prevention Strategy’, that among other things sought to prevent suicide among at risk groups. Norman Lamb called for effort from voluntary, state and private sectors alike. He said: “One death to suicide is one too many – we want to make suicide prevention everyone’s business. Over the last 10 years there has been real progress in reducing the suicide rate, but it is still the case that someone takes their own life every two hours in England.”

Suicides by jumping almost inevitably occur in public places, have a very high fatality rate and are extremely traumatic for witnesses and people living and working in the surrounds. Jumps also tend to attract media attention, which can lead to copycat suicides. All the world’s most notorious suicide locations are jumping sites. Evidence suggests that loss of life can be prevented when local agencies work together to discourage suicides at high-risk locations, including sites that temporarily become suicide hot-spots after a suicide death.

Suggestions from the Department of Health include barriers or nets on bridges, and advertising emergency telephone numbers, such as the Samaritans;

Examples

Effective approaches to reducing suicides at high-risk locations or from jumping include, the DH suggests:

• preventative measures – for example barriers or nets on bridges, including motorway bridges, from which suicidal jumps have been made, and advertising emergency telephone numbers, such as the Samaritans;
• working with local authority planning departments and developers to include suicide risk in health and safety considerations when designing multi-storey car parks, bridges and high-rise buildings that may offer suicide opportunities;
• In care and hospital settings, environmental assessments should include assessing the risk of vulnerable patients accessing opening windows or balconies

The British Transport Police (BTP) and London Underground Limited (LUL) have worked with local services to reduce risk at transport- related suicide hotspots. LUL has provided staff training to help them identify people who may be considering suicide and engage with them in the hope that they can persuade them not to. This approach has helped reduce incidence of suicide at one Underground station close to a psychiatric inpatient unit. The training is being rolled out across the Underground.

For the DH document in full –

http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/files/2012/09/Preventing-Suicide-in-England-A-cross-government-outcomes-strategy-to-save-lives.pdf

Personal advice can be found at the Samaritans website –

http://www.samaritans.org/your_emotional_health/about_suicide.aspx

The Government has identified six areas for action:

A better understanding of why people take their own life and how it can be prevented – supported by new suicide prevention research funding.

Working with the media, and with the internet industry through members of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) to help parents ensure their children are not accessing harmful suicide-related websites, and to increase the availability and take-up of effective parental controls to reduce access to harmful websites.

Reducing opportunities for suicide, by making sure prisons and mental health facilities keep people safer – for example by redesigning buildings to take away ligature – and by safer prescribing of potentially lethal drugs.

Better support for high-risk groups – such as those with mental health problems and people who self-harm – by making sure the health service effectively manages the mental health aspects as well as any physical injuries when people who have self-harmed present themselves.

Improving services for groups like children and young people or ensuring the mental health needs of those with long-term conditions are being met through the Government’s mental health strategy.

Providing better information and support to those bereaved or affected by suicide – making sure families are included in the recovery and treatment of a patient and giving support to families affected by suicide.

Norman Lamb said: “We want to reduce suicides by better supporting those most at risk and providing information for those affected by a loved one’s suicide.

“Effective suicide prevention requires combined effort from a wide range of organisations across the voluntary, statutory and private sectors. That is why I’m delighted that almost 50 national organisations have responded to the Call to Action and why we have worked with Samaritans in order to help provide support to those most in need.”

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