Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows that suicide is more common in West Yorkshire than in England as a whole. More men than women die by suicide with significant risk factors being grief and loss, money worries, alcohol, relationship breakdown and mental health problems.
Because every death is one death too many, the Partnership wants to achieve a minimum 10 percent reduction in the suicide rate across West Yorkshire over the next five years, a goal outlined in the recently launched Suicide Prevention Strategy and Action Plan for 2022-2027. The strategy aims to make suicide prevention everyone's business, including citizens, voluntary and community sector organisations, the NHS, local authorities, employers and emergency services.
Nichola Sanderson, one of three Senior Responsible Officers (SROs) for suicide prevention in West Yorkshire, and the Deputy Director of Nursing at Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust said:
"My experience as a mental health nurse has given me the privilege of working with people and their families at the most distressing and vulnerable times. I believe that with the right help and support, all death by suicide can become a thing of the past."
Kim Shutler is SRO and the Chief Executive Officer at The Cellar Trust in Shipley, a registered mental health charity that supports people with mental health problems, across the Bradford district. Kim said:
“Suicide prevention in a post-pandemic climate will require us all to dig deep and pull together to do everything we can. We also need to work hard to raise the profile of this work. Suicide prevention isn't just in the domain of mental health services. I encourage everyone reading this to take a pause to think what their role could or should be.”