Policy paper
Suicide prevention strategy: action plan
Published 11 September 2023
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2023
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This action plan contains a summary of the actions within the suicide prevention strategy.
Improving data and evidence
| Action | Lead | Delivery date |
|---|---|---|
| Development of a new nationwide near real-time suspected suicide surveillance system. This work aims to improve the early detection of, and timely action to address, changes in suicide rates or trends. | Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) | 2023 |
| Identify opportunities to improve the quality of intelligence and data that is used to improve our knowledge. This could include, for example, information about the link between suicide, and factors such as ethnicity and domestic abuse. | National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) | 2024 and 2025 |
| Fund research looking at which interventions aimed at groups at high risk of suicide and suicide attempts are effective. | National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) | Commissioning process starts December 2023 |
| Work with coroners to share insights to address evidence gaps and inform practical actions. Discussions with coroners will also continue to encourage data sharing at local and national level to prevent further deaths. | Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and coroners | Ongoing |
| Use findings from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) analysis of themes from recently published analysis of prevention of future deaths reports to inform national policy and actions, working with other government departments and agencies. | DHSC | Ongoing |
| Conduct and commission new research and data linkage projects, including projects to better understand incidences of suicide following a bereavement, links between the cost of living and suicide, and trends in suicide rates in different occupational groups. | DHSC, ONS, other government departments | Ongoing |
| Consider insights from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey, including insights relating to groups such as carers and those with experience of prison, gambling and domestic abuse. | DHSC, other government departments | Ongoing |
Providing tailored and targeted support to priority groups
All groups
| Action | Lead | Delivery date |
|---|---|---|
| DHSC has established a £10 million Suicide Prevention Grant Fund to run from 2023 to 2024 and 2024 to 2025 to support voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector organisations to deliver suicide prevention activity. The fund will support a wide range of charities and activities, including those that work closely with these groups. | DHSC | 2023 to 2025 |
| Refresh local suicide prevention plan guidance to support the development of local plans in line with national priorities, including guidance on providing bespoke support to demographic groups and communities of concern. | OHID | By the end of 2024 |
| NHS Long Term Plan funding to support suicide prevention activity, including to support specific groups, continues to run. | NHS England (NHSE) | March 2024 |
Children and young people
| Action | Lead | Delivery date |
|---|---|---|
| Expand the number of mental health support teams in schools so that, by the end of the 2024 to 2025 financial year, at least 50% of pupils and further education learners in England will be covered by a team. | Department for Education (DfE), NHSE, DHSC | 2023 to April 2025 |
| Review relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) guidance to consider the inclusion of suicide and self-harm prevention as an explicit part of the curriculum. | DfE | 2024 |
| All state schools and colleges to be offered funding to train a senior mental health lead. | DfE | By 2025 |
| Fund anti-bullying organisations to support schools to tackle bullying. | DfE | 2024 |
| Work with Universities UK (UUK) to support universities to embed its Suicide-safer universities guidance, which covers both prevention of suicide and compassionate responses to suicide in universities. Guidance developed in partnership with PAPYRUS-UK. | DfE | Ongoing |
| Commission an independent organisation to carry out a national review of higher education student suicides. This will support rigorous local reviews and identify recommendations to prevent future deaths. | DfE | To begin in 2023 |
| Support the higher education mental health implementation taskforce. The taskforce will set out a plan to improve mental health support and suicide prevention in higher education. | DfE | May 2024 |
| Commission research via NIHR to advance understanding of why rates of suicide have been increasing in certain age groups. | DHSC | Research will conclude in 2025 |
| Strengthen guidance Promoting the health and wellbeing of looked-after children, including extending it to cover care leavers up to age 25. | DfE, DHSC | Scoping currently in progress |
| Ensure data and evidence from child death overview panels and the National Child Mortality Database are harnessed to support learning and future interventions. | NHSE, DHSC | Ongoing |
Middle-aged men
| Action | Lead | Delivery date |
|---|---|---|
| Embed initiatives to support other risk factors for suicide in middle-aged men. For example, initiatives to support those experiencing financial difficulty, improve treatment and support for men who misuse alcohol and drugs through the 10-year drugs strategy, and progress initiatives to reduce suicide among those in contact with the justice system – such as safer cells, suicide and self-harm prevention training to staff – and support on release for people with complex needs. | Multiple departments | Various |
| Through local guidance, encourage local government, NHS and voluntary sector organisations to work together to ensure that there are initiatives that reach men in places that suit them, encourage the reduction of stigma and support their needs. | OHID | Ongoing |
| Work with organisations that represent, work with or are popular among largely male populations to explore further options to support men, and share innovative and good practice. | DHSC | Ongoing |
| Encourage employers, including in largely male industries, to have adequate and appropriate support in place for employees – including, for example, people trained in mental health first aid, mental health support and suicide prevention awareness. | DHSC | Ongoing |
| Ensure appropriate support and signposting for suicide prevention from services men commonly interact with, especially within primary care, as well as other government agencies and wider physical and mental health services. | DHSC, NHSE, other government departments | Ongoing |
People who have self-harmed
| Action | Lead | Delivery date |
|---|---|---|
| Publish data outlining whether the 80% target for psychosocial assessments was achieved and explore plans to support psychiatric liaison teams in continuing to provide psychosocial assessments in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance at these levels. | NHSE | 2024 |
| Continue to fund the Multicentre Study of Self-harm in England to improve our understanding of emerging issues, informed by data, evidence and trends, so that we can continue to act on the determinants and factors associated with self-harm risk. | DHSC | Ongoing |
| Support NHS integrated care systems (ICSs) across England to improve community-based services and care for people who self-harm. | National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health (NCISH), Manchester self-harm project, Patient Safety Translational Research Centre, NHSE | Ongoing |
| Expand the new offence of encouraging or assisting serious self-harm to cover engagement or assistance given in ways that are outside of the Online Safety Bill, such as the provision of physical assistance. | Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), Ministry of Justice (MoJ) | When Parliamentary time allows |
People in contact with mental health services
| Action | Lead | Delivery date |
|---|---|---|
| Identify and implement actions to further prevent suicides, including reviewing and implementing evidence-informed recommendations such as those outlined in the NCISH annual reports. | Mental health trusts across England | Ongoing |
| Ensure that patients receive good-quality (in line with NICE guidelines) follow-up support within 72 hours of being discharged from inpatient mental health settings. This includes developing effective integrated pathways. | NHSE | Ongoing |
| Convene a safety planning working group, which brings together experts and people with personal experience, to identify opportunities to improve the quality and culture of inpatient services, including risk management of suicide and self-harm across different settings. Guidance on safety planning will be developed and published by March 2024 and training and quality improvement (QI) programmes will be scoped, with the aim to begin delivery by March 2025. | NHSE | Guidance published in 2023 to 2024, training and QI programmes intend to begin delivery in 2024 to 2025 |
| Explore opportunities to better support those with specific diagnoses of conditions associated with higher rates of suicide, by working with policy, clinical and personal experience experts to provide bespoke suicide prevention activity where needed. DHSC with NHSE intend to explore opportunities to improve the quality of care for patients with these diagnoses to ensure compliance with NICE guidelines. | DHSC, NHSE | 2024 to 2025 |
People in contact with the criminal; justice system
| Action | Lead | Delivery date |
|---|---|---|
| Commit £625,000 of funding per year until March 2025 to maintain delivery of the Samaritans Listener scheme and postvention service. | MoJ | Committed until March 2025 |
| Continue to roll out suicide and self-harm prevention training among prison staff, encouraging a joined-up approach to prison safety. | MoJ | Ongoing |
| Install new ligature-resistant cells, focusing on the highest-priority prisons. | MoJ | Ongoing |
| Continue to consider advice from the Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody, and maintain links between this group and the National Suicide Prevention Strategy Advisory Group, so that recommendations and good practice to prevent suicide are a core part of policy considerations. | Home Office (HO), MoJ, DHSC | Ongoing |
| Continue to provide RECONNECT and Enhanced RECONNECT services. | NHSE | Ongoing |
| Develop new suicide prevention training to be rolled out among probation practitioners and approved premises staff. | HM Prison and Probation Service | Timescales under discussion |
Autistic people
| Action | Lead | Delivery date |
|---|---|---|
| Work with NCISH to develop a clearer national picture of suicides in autistic adults, children and young people. | NHSE, DHSC | 2024 |
| Draw learning from the Learning from Lives and Deaths - people with a learning disability and autistic people (LeDeR) programme to identify areas for improvement to prevent suicides. | NHSE, DHSC | Ongoing |
| Consider the results of the NIHR-funded study that is testing the effectiveness of adapted suicide safety plans to reduce self-harm, suicidal thoughts and behaviours among autistic people, once it is completed. | DHSC | Once published – expected 2024. |
| Consider opportunities for provide support for autistic children within the education system and any tailored support that might be needed for different groups, including autistic children. As part of the RSHE review, DfE will consider whether more specific guidance is needed to support those teaching RSHE to pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, including autism. | DfE | 2024 |
Pregnant women and new mothers
| Action | Lead | Delivery date |
|---|---|---|
| Have maternal mental health services, which combine maternity, reproductive health and psychological care, fully operational in every ICS area. | NHSE | 2024 |
| Offer personalised care and support plans, taking into account physical health, mental health and social complexities, with a risk assessment updated at every contact. | NHSE | By 2026 |
| NHSE will work closely with the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) to develop new guidance for GPs who deliver 6-to-8-week postnatal consultations. This includes a chapter specifically on support for perinatal mental health, and what the most appropriate crisis and/or emergency support might be where required. | NHSE and RCGP | 2023 |
| The VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance, managed by DHSC, NHSE and UK Health Security Agency, is sponsoring a project being led by the Tommy’s and Sands Maternity Consortium, which will explore experiences of perinatal suicide and self-harm and their risk factors. | DHSC, NHSE | 2023 to 2024 |
Addressing risk factors
Physical illness
| Action | Lead | Delivery date |
|---|---|---|
| Improve suicide prevention signposting and support to people in contact with primary care services, including those receiving care for physical ill health. | DHSC, working with NHSE and professional bodies. | Ongoing |
| Publish a major conditions strategy outlining what we will do to ensure health services are more preventative and person-centred. | DHSC | 2024 |
Financial difficulty and economic adversity
| Action | Lead | Delivery date |
|---|---|---|
| Consider the links between suicide and debt, using the Government Debt Management Function’s Vulnerability Toolkits to explore how the support and training offer for suicide prevention can be strengthened in frontline services. | DHSC, Government Debt Management Function | 2024 |
| Identify opportunities to review and strengthen existing guidance that supports customers who disclose that they are experiencing suicidal thoughts or feelings, with consideration to the role of financial difficulty. | Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) | 2024 |
| Procure a call alert and transcription service across the DWP telephony estate to support the quick identification of callers who raise suicidal thoughts. | DWP | 2025 |
| Continue work to improve access and signposting to debt support to ensure people are not struggling alone and know what options are available to them. | NHSE, Money and Pensions Service | Ongoing |
Gambling
| Action | Lead | Delivery date |
|---|---|---|
| Strengthen informational messaging, including on risks associated with gambling, and continue to work to further strengthen evidence on how to reduce gambling-related harms. | Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Gambling Commission | 2023 |
| Consult on the design and scope of a statutory levy paid by gambling operators and collected by the Gambling Commission to fund research, education and treatment of gambling harms, which will lead to further opportunities to take action. | DCMS | 2023 |
| Develop clinical guidelines to support the identification, assessment and management of harmful gambling. | NICE | Publication expected spring 2024 |
| Work with the NHS and others to explore opportunities to improve current treatment provision for gambling-related harms, including gambling-related suicidality. This includes a review of the existing treatment system in England. | DHSC | Recommendations expected in 2023 |
| Update guidance for local authorities on gambling-related harms, and encourage public health teams to consider the potential links between their work on suicide prevention and harmful gambling. | Local Government Association | 2023 |
| Royal College of Psychiatrists will develop a continuous professional development resource to improve professionals’ understanding of harmful gambling. This will include suicide risk as a result of gambling. | Royal College of Psychiatrists | 2024 |
Alcohol and drugs misuse
| Action | Lead | Delivery date |
|---|---|---|
| Continue to implement actions set out in the 10-year drugs strategy. | HO, DHSC, MoJ, DWP, DfE, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) | Ongoing |
| Consider suicide prevention in joint action plan for mental health and substance misuse services. | DHSC, NHSE | 2023 and 2024 |
| Explore ways to improve access to substance misuse treatment, including how to improve referrals from health services and the criminal justice system. | OHID | Ongoing |
| Include guidance for clinicians and support staff working in alcohol treatment services on identifying and managing immediate risk of suicide or self-harm in the upcoming UK clinical guidelines for alcohol treatment. | DHSC | Consultation summer 2023, final publication by 2024 |
| Evaluate the impact of alcohol duty reforms, with support from DHSC to assess the impact on population-level rates of alcohol consumption and levels of alcohol harm. | HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs | Summer 2026 |
Social isolation and loneliness
| Action | Lead | Delivery date |
|---|---|---|
| Publication of the £5 million Tackling loneliness with transport fund, which will provide insight into how transport policies can reduce the number of people feeling lonely. | Department for Transport (DfT) | 2023 |
| Launch DCMS’s £30 million Know Your Neighbourhood Fund, which aims to increase volunteering and reduce chronic loneliness in high-deprivation areas, including projects to prevent suicide. Through delivery and evaluation of the fund, local authorities and community organisations will have access to evidence on what works. | DCMS | Fund runs until 2025 |
| Strengthen existing social isolation and loneliness digital learning resources to include links to existing learning resources on suicide prevention. | NHSE | Ongoing |
| Explore further ways to signpost people to social prescribing and other loneliness support, including online social prescribing platform and NHS toolkit. | DHSC, DCMS, NHSE | 2023 and 2024 |
| Encourage suicide and mental health helplines to signpost to interventions that tackle loneliness and prioritise community-based schemes that tackle loneliness within national signposting tools, including the NHS app. | DHSC | 2023 and 2024 |
| The Social Prescribing Information Standard will enable link workers and primary care practitioners to capture information about needs and support offered to individuals. Data can be used by local NHS planners and commissioners to support groups known to be at higher risk of loneliness. | NHSE | Ongoing |
Domestic abuse
| Action | Lead | Delivery date |
|---|---|---|
| Collation of data on victim suicides at a national level. | HO | Funding confirmed to 2025 |
| Support the development of methods to comparably measure the effectiveness of different interventions that support children experiencing domestic abuse. | HO | Funding confirmed 2025 |
| Continue to implement actions in the Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan. | HO | Ongoing |
| Consider how to improve training for staff and better embed routine enquiry around domestic abuse, including links to suicide through the Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Programme. | NHSE | Ongoing |
| NHS integrated care boards (ICBs) have a duty to set out in their joint forward plans how they meet the needs of domestic abuse victims. NHSE guidance recommends that this includes appropriate training, identification and referral pathways to meet the needs of victims of domestic abuse. | NHSE and ICBs | Ongoing |
| Invest up to £7.5 million on domestic abuse interventions in healthcare settings to better equip healthcare professionals to respond to domestic abuse disclosures, enhance referral pathways and build on best practice. | HO | Funding confirmed up to 2025 |
Online safety, media and technology
Tackling online harms and harnessing the benefits of technology
| Action | Lead | Delivery date |
|---|---|---|
| Test digital therapeutics that can reduce suicidal ideation and behaviours in the short and long term. | DHSC and NHSE | Scoping to start in 2024 |
| Engage with the technology and artificial intelligence sector to identify opportunities to apply digital innovation safely and effectively to suicide prevention activity, in line with national clinical guidelines. | DHSC | 2024 |
| Seek to enact and then implement the Online Safety Bill (subject to the will of Parliament). | DSIT | Dependent on parliamentary procedure |
| Continue to work closely with Samaritans on the delivery of their online excellence programme partnership with social media and search engine platforms, learning from research and providing input where appropriate. | DHSC, Samaritans | Ongoing |
| Continue to work with social media and search engine platforms. We expect that platforms take the right actions to tackle harmful content and provide supportive environments, and share good practice across the sector. | DSIT, DHSC | Ongoing |
Responsible portrayal of suicide in the media
| Action | Lead | Delivery date |
|---|---|---|
| Continue to review resources, including guidelines, to ensure that they reflect current and emerging issues. | DHSC | Ongoing |
| Collaborate with Samaritans to support the media to understand and act on evolving issues in suicide prevention. | DHSC | Ongoing |
| Demonstrate strong leadership nationally on responsible reporting. Highlight where there may be an impact of other countries’ practices on UK audiences and seek to collaborate on, and share good practice in, tackling online harms. | DHSC | Ongoing |
Providing effective and appropriate crisis support
| Action | Lead | Delivery date |
|---|---|---|
| Expand all-age mental health crisis services across NHS trusts, in partnership with wider system partners such as VCSE organisations, to support current demand for services. | NHSE | Ongoing. 100% coverage of children and young people’s services by the end of the 2023 to 2024 financial year |
| Anyone seeking urgent mental health support in England will be able to do so via NHS 111, selecting the mental health option. | NHSE | 2023 to 2024 |
| Introduce crisis text lines in all areas of England to enable easier access to crisis care for those with specific needs, such as people who are neurodiverse and other marginalised groups. | NHSE | 2024 to 2025 |
| Procurement of specialised mental health ambulances via the £150 million capital funding available for urgent and emergency care mental health pathways. This is also funding a range of capital infrastructure schemes, including crisis cafés, crisis houses, improvements in emergency departments and health-based places of safety. | NHSE | Phased roll out by 2024 to 2025 |
| Embed mental health professionals in all emergency operations centres (such as ambulance control rooms). | NHSE | 2024 |
| Continue to support general hospitals, which all now have mental health liaison services. All should seek to meet this standard where not yet achieved. | NHSE | Aim of 70% meeting the ‘core 24’ standard for adults and older adults by the end of the 2023 to 2024 financial year |
| Support ICBs to invest in VCSE crisis alternative support, such as crisis cafés, sanctuaries and safe havens. | NHSE | 2024 |
| Increase the uptake of crisis services joining the crisis resolution and home treatment teams quality network (CRHTT). This supports trusts in monitoring the quality of care provided by CRHTT, and to assess whether local crisis services operate in line with best practice. | DHSC, NHSE | Ongoing |
Tackling means and methods of suicide
Tackling common methods of suicide
| Action | Lead | Delivery date |
|---|---|---|
| Monitor compliance with guidance on the sales of analgesics such as paracetamol, including promotions that exceed the recommended maximum, and continue to review whether legislation and guidance on the sales of analgesics is safe and proportionate. | Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) | Ongoing |
| Explore whether regulatory change is required on the quantities of sales of tablets, linked to the above. | DHSC, MHRA | Ongoing |
| Continue to review and implement evidence-informed recommendations such as those outlined in the NCISH annual reports, including continued removal of ligature points from wards. | Mental health trusts | Ongoing |
| Follow NICE safe prescribing guidelines, especially in the case of prescribing antidepressants and analgesics within primary care for both adults and children and young people. | All medical professionals | Ongoing |
| Revise the RCGP curriculum and assess where guidance on safe prescribing may be strengthened as part of this process. | RCGP | In progress |
High-frequency locations
| Action | Lead | Delivery date |
|---|---|---|
| Update the guidance for local suicide prevention partnerships on suicide clusters and contagion to support effective local responses where there may be more suicides than expected in a particular area or a suspected link between suicides. | OHID | Publication in 2023 to 2024 |
| Continue to geotarget locations on social media following a suicide to signpost support services and try to prevent further occurrences at the same location. Continue to minimise risks in the infrastructure and design of rail stations, including in the refurbishment and development of new stations. | Network Rail | Ongoing |
| Partner with public health teams and suicide prevention organisations to better understand and contribute to the prevention of water-based suicides. Deliver an integrated data set to better understand water-related deaths, including suspected suicides. | UK National Water Safety Forum (including Royal National Lifeboat Institution) | Ongoing |
| Work together to improve data collection and data sharing in all areas, including identifying where an individual resides as well as the location in question, to improve understanding and provide appropriate support and guidance for future lessons learned. | NPCC, OHID, local authorities | Ongoing |
| Collaborative work to better understand deaths that occur on/near roads and associated infrastructure. | NPCC, Highways Agency | Ongoing |
| Publish an evidence review to assist with the scoping of mental health, including suicide, within impact assessments for new infrastructure projects. | OHID | 2024 |
| Explore where we can go further in improving and implementing suicide protection measures in new buildings. | DLUHC, DHSC, Building Safety Regulator | 2024 to 2025 |
| Consider including guidance on suicide prevention measures as standards are developed to support the delivery of the New Hospitals Programme. | DHSC, NHSE | 2023 to 2024 |
Actions to tackle means and methods of suicide
| Action | Lead | Delivery date |
|---|---|---|
| Continue to lead the cross-government and cross-sector group specifically to tackle emerging methods of suicide. | DHSC | Ongoing |
| Embed a new national process that both captures intelligence and subsequently issues alerts to relevant parts of the health, care, education and justice systems, as well as the VCSE, on any emerging methods or risks to be aware of. | DHSC | 2024 |
| Take a leading role in tackling methods of suicide. Collaborate with partners across the world in policy, law enforcement and society more broadly to limit access, reduce awareness, and share research, evidence and lessons learned. This will include seeking to tackle at source the suppliers of harmful substances for the purposes of suicide. | Led by cross-government group | 2024 onwards |
| Develop refreshed guidance for first responders when encountering a death by suspected suicide through an emerging method. | DHSC and OHID | 2024 |
| Provide quarterly reports to the cross-sector group on provisional registered suicides by emerging methods. | ONS | Ongoing |
| Encourage all NHS trusts to sign up to TOXBASE. | NHSE | 2023 |
| Continue to work with media to encourage responsible reporting, helping to maintain low levels of awareness of novel methods. | Samaritans, DHSC | Ongoing |
Providing timely and effective bereavement support
| Action | Lead | Delivery date |
|---|---|---|
| Continue to support all local areas in England, who will have in place a standardised bereavement support offer, from investment of £57 million for wider suicide prevention activity through the NHS Long Term Plan. | NHSE, Support after Suicide Partnership (SASP) | By the end of the 2023 to 2024 financial year |
| SASP will continue to offer support to local areas with embedding suicide bereavement services in line with their Core Standards. | SASP | Ongoing |
| The British Transport Police (BTP) has started rolling out bereavement support training for officers who may be the first contact for families, friends and loved ones after someone has died. The NPCC recommends that all forces develop and roll out similar training. | BTP | 2023 onwards |
| Make use of local near real-time suicide surveillance systems in connecting families, friends, carers and loved ones to bereavement support. | Local authorities | Ongoing |
| Work with experts to update relevant guidance and improve employer support. | DHSC | Ongoing |
| Consider the quality of existing bereavement support offers for healthcare professionals following a suicide, and explore opportunities to strengthen – for example, through guidance changes. | NHSE, DHSC | 2024 |
| Continue to assist NHS trusts in developing and implementing a process to manage the impact of an employee suicide on colleagues, supported by the postvention toolkit developed by Samaritans, in partnership with the NHS Confederation. | NHSE | Ongoing |
| Work with relevant organisations to consider opportunities to embed recommendations from their prevention and postvention support framework (including Supporting mental health staff following the death of a patient by suicide. | Royal College of Psychiatrists | 2023 and ongoing |
| Collaborate with UUK to embed guidance for universities with practical, compassionate actions after a suspected death by suicide. | DfE, DHSC, UUK | Ongoing |
| Commission research into the barriers that prevent minority ethnic groups from accessing bereavement support services. | DHSC, NIHR | Initial findings expected in 2024 |
| Develop a resource in collaboration with key stakeholders that all first responders can access. This will aim to provide advice and support to bystanders who may have witnessed a suicide or attempted suicide. | DHSC, suicide prevention VCSE organisations | 2024 |
| Continue to work with VCSE sector stakeholders to better understand the personal experiences of people bereaved by suicide, and explore opportunities to improve access and support. | DHSC, NHSE | Ongoing |
Making suicide prevention everyone’s business
| Action | Lead | Delivery date |
|---|---|---|
| Collate and promote training and guidance that helps guide constructive conversations and empowers people to check in on those around them. Training and guidance will be available to support people working in environments where effective suicide prevention can be provided. This includes national government, local government and voluntary sector services. | DHSC | 2023 to 2024 |
| Use occupation information provided on death certificates to improve understanding of the suicide rates in different occupations. | ONS | 2024 |
| Explore the government’s role in supporting employers to improve the support they provide for the mental wellbeing of themselves and their employees. This will include updating and highlighting best practice guidance to support employers in supporting their employees. | DWP, DHSC | 2024 |
| Explore options for revising Health and Safety Executive (HSE) first aid guidance, and other relevant guidance, to emphasise the importance of parity of managing risks to mental and physical health in the workplace. | HSE, DHSC, DWP | 2023 to 2024 |
| Work in partnership to deliver suicide intervention training for railway staff. | Network Rail, Samaritans | Ongoing |
| Launch a mental health impact assessment tool to inform broader policy making across central and local government. | DHSC | 2023 to 2024 |
| DHSC will work with DLUHC to understand local authority-level analysis and mapping of suicides and associated risk factors to ensure the actions taken following publication tackle geographical disparities, building on work of the Levelling Up agenda including the Levelling Up Partnerships. | DHSC, DLUHC | Ongoing |
| Work with VCSE and local authorities to create a short resource outlining appropriate language to use when talking about suicide. This resource will be disseminated widely to support both online and in-person conversations. | DHSC | 2024 |