Agenda item

This item will consider suicide and suicide prevention in Calderdale, across all age ranges. Because of this, Children and Young People Scrutiny Board members have been invited to attend and participate in this discussion. The discussion will be led in “workshop style” by Sue Forster, Consultant in Public Health, with contributions from Calderdale CCG, South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Trust and Council officers. The Scrutiny Board is asked to consider whether it wishes to make any recommendations to Cabinet, council officers or NHS bodies on suicide prevention.

The Interim Consultant, Public Health presented a report on the partnership work being undertaken on suicide prevention. The report includes the findings of the audit undertaken between 2016 and 2018 (Appendix A) and informs Members on:

·         suicide rates in Calderdale in comparison to local, regional and national figures;

·         a summary of the risk and protective factors from the suicide audit;

·         the background information on the construction and priorities of the updated Suicide Prevention Action Plan (SPAP);

·         a summary of the progress made on the delivery of the SPAP; and

·         the integration of suicide prevention into all the council’s services and programmes for all age groups.

The Chair welcomed the representative from partnership organisations and Members of the Children and Young Persons Scrutiny Board who had been invited to attend the meeting and contribute to the review of the report.

Councillors Barnes, Blagbrough, Courtney, Durrans, Foster, Holdsworth, Hutchinson, Kingstone, Parsons-Hulse, Rivron, M Swift commented:

·         Why is the SPAP not attached to the report?  In response, Officers advised that the SPAP is currently going through the final check and approvement process. A timescale  of when the SPAP would be submitted for consideration would be circulated to Members in the next few days.

·         The report does not give a sense of why Calderdale suicide rates were higher than average.

·         At the July 2021 meeting of this Board a report on “Burnt Bridges” had been scrutinised by Members where concerns had been raised about the lack of joined up services and clear signposting and no one taking on the responsibility.  There is a need for joined up services between Mental Health and Drug/Alcohol Dependency Teams. Members had experience in the past where Alcohol/drug dependant persons had been refused support within the Mental Health service and this now needs to start to happen.    In response, Officers replied they saw comparative links between the “Burnt Bridges” report and a joined up service approach required for suicide prevention.

·         There is  a lot of data analysis in the report which also advises that support for relationship challenges and adjustments to benefit status particularly for the disabled community was required. In response, Officers advised that Department of Work and Pensions and GP practices deal with the benefit assessments independent of each other and that dual diagnosis should be applied and focussed on. The following report at this meeting is about a person centred approach to avoid persons falling through the cracks.

·         The last audit on suicide prevention did not include ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. A co-ordinated approach is not limited to Mental Health and Drug/Alcohol dependencies Teams but involves other teams and partnerships as well to prevent all persons including young person’s reaching crisis point. In response, Officers advised Dual diagnosis is an area that requires attention and improvement and is one of the action points of the SPAP.

·         Data on adults show it is more common that a person who commits suicide have attempted suicide previously. Is data collected on children and young persons recorded differently as there is some understanding that some young person’s  deaths are recorded as accidental?  In response, officers advised that all evidence is reviewed and if burden of proof is that it is a suicide then that is what is recorded.

·         Having to wait up to 12 weeks following  a referral to Mental Health services is too long. Intervention is required sooner to avoid persons reaching crisis point. In response, Officers acknowledged  that provision across the service does have different waiting times but there are services available such as Safe Spaces who are available every evening and currently there is no waiting list at Healthy Minds.

·         Some of the intervention services are not funded and require volunteers to raise funds to keep the services running sustainably. These services should be fully funded. Statistics and information on training is also available for officers  going into schools and Children’s Home settings.  What controls and training are being offered to the voluntary sector?  In response, Officers advised that all schools in Calderdale are covered, a therapeutic plan forms  part of all Children Looked After (CLA) care plan which is reviewed and met, SEND children are also met through similar reviews, and OFSTED always look at children’s emotional wellbeing provision as part of their review. Officers further advised that they could not predict what support or funding will be available to support voluntary groups going forward. Information needed  to be kept simple and should have contingency plans in place if there is a shortfall in service.

·         What help is being provided to support all Young People’s Mental  Health post covid-19? In response, Officers advised that schools had been given a significant amount of funding to provide support to young persons struggling to readjust back to a school environment and studying.

·         It was criminal that millions of pounds require spending after the event not available to invest as a prevention before the event. These services should be fully funded. In response, a representative from West Yorkshire Police (WYP) advised that they currently worked closely with Mental Health Services on a more reactive than proactive basis. People were referred through different agencies and they also assisted family and friends of the person by signposting them to agencies as well.  It was important to look at  prevention rather than reaction solutions.  It was very traumatic for their officers to attend and deal with the aftermath of suicide.

·         The similarities in “Burnt Bridges” and the joined up service report on  suicide prevention should be in the next report.

·         Is service provision impacted by the transition from Children and Young Person Service to Adult Service provision? In response, Officers advised a smooth change in directorate can be achieved by making the transition personalised , softening the boundaries between directorates, and adopting a trauma informed approach.

A representative of the Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) summarised  the key themes and issues highlighted in the discussion which would be collated by the Scrutiny Officer  into a report to be presented to an informal joint  meeting of the Children and Young People’s and Adults Health and Wellbeing Boards.

IT WAS AGREED that:

(a)    the Senior Scrutiny Support Officer be requested to collate the key themes and issues discussed and present a report to an informal joint meeting of the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Board and the Adults Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Board; and

(b)    the report be noted.