Agenda item

Speaker: Nanu Chumber-Stanley (Public Health Lead - Suicide Prevention & Public Mental Health Training – Surrey County Council Public Health Team)

The Panel received a presentation (published as a supplement to the agenda) from Nanu Chamber-Stanley (Public Health Lead – Suicide Prevention & Public Mental Health Training – Surrey County Council).

The following matters were considered by the Panel:

a)            It was identified that partnership working is fundamental to the continuation of this work, thus it was queried whether all partners involved are up to speed with regards to funding, resourcing, and commitment. It was noted that whilst the Alison Todd protocol is new, work is being done to get organisations on board. A ‘task and finish’ group will be starting and Councillors are welcome to take part where possible. It was also stated that due to the vast number of different GP practices, it would not be possible for each one to sign up to the Alison Todd protocol. However, it will be possible to use a Primary Care Network approach to get the practices on board with the protocol.

b)            It was acknowledged that whilst different partners have been collecting data, they haven’t been using the same parameters. A question was posed around how this can be rectified. It was stated that Suicide Prevention has a national mandate for the real time database which all partners must use. There is a new database known as ‘QES’ which will further enable partners to use the same parameters when collecting data. Currently, QES is only available to Surrey Police, but there are plans to involve the Surrey and Boarders Partnership as well as other agencies, once the data sharing process is complete.

c)            From considerations on the statistics shared, it was noted that the rate of suicide increased during the Cost-of-Living Crisis and when the method of reporting changed. However, suicide rates did not increase during the pandemic, despite loneliness being identified as a trigger. It was suggested that this could have been because more people were volunteering as they were not able to work. An idea was posed as to whether volunteering could be used in suicide prevention. Reasons for the national drop in suicides during the pandemic were explored and noted as follows: social capita during this time was very high – people were working together and checking in on each other more frequently. It was also stated that although the data collected during the pandemic depicts a decrease in suicide, it was still a very challenging time for many. Social isolation and loneliness are still very much prevalent today and an upcoming Joint Strategic Needs Assessment should depict this to further inform the work being done around suicide prevention.

d)            A query was made into suicide risk where there is risk of coercive control and domestic abuse. It was noted that suicide awareness training as well as domestic abuse training is available to all. The speaker commissions men’s mental health programmes for Surrey which revealed that 1/3 of all men have experienced domestic abuse. Further work is being done to understand men’s mental health and implement support as it has been on the agenda for a long time. Lived experience was noted to be a catalyst in the development of men’s mental health support.

e)            It was stated that parents need to know and be aware of what their children are accessing online. A question was asked on whether there is any plan to include parents when training suicide prevention or a plan to educate parents to monitor online harms. It was mentioned that on the new Suicide Prevention Strategy, there is a large section which features an online harms strategy and that the Lucy Rayner Foundation based in Banstead run awareness sessions for families, as well as drop-in sessions for concerned parents. It was also noted that when there is a risk or concern identified around social media, the Samaritan’s press team can have it removed.