Strategy to bring down suicide rates in Warwickshire is backed by council

The Coventry and Warwickshire Suicide Prevention Strategy, which aims to build on a national programme that ran between 2018 and 2021, was approved by Warwickshire County Council’s cabinet this week.

It includes the funding of a real-time surveillance system to monitor suicide rates rather than relying on national statistics that can be up to two years old.

The latest numbers run from 2019-2021 with Warwickshire’s rate at 11.2 suicides per 100,000 people, above Coventry’s at 9.3, the national average which is 10.4 and the figure for the West Midlands which is 10.7.

Warwickshire’s current figure is also up on the previous year with a rate of 9.2 recorded for 2018-2020.

The county’s report read: “Whilst there is some variation in these rates between the districts and boroughs within Warwickshire, the overall picture shows an increase which is higher than both the regional and national average.

“Positively, this national data shows a decline in the overall suicide rate in Warwickshire since a peak in 2014-16 (12.2 per 100,000). It is however important to note that national figures are up to two years behind real-time data.

“To address this, it is critical that we can identify real-time figures across Coventry and Warwickshire to respond to emerging trends or areas of concern in a timely manner.”

The real-time data provided as part of the national programme delivers weekly figures on suspected suicides to feed into quarterly updates.

“Importantly, this information enables us to activate an immediate response if a potential cluster is identified,” the report continues.

“In the current climate of financial uncertainty and societal challenges and the increased anxiety that this can cause, it is increasingly important that we are able to monitor any changes in suicide trends.

“This would include new or emerging trends in the demographic profile, location or method used and background circumstances of people who die by suicide.”

Cllr Margaret Bell, the county’s portfolio holder for adult social care and health, said the estimated £120,000 cost to get the ball rolling was already accounted for but the council’s report says funding will have to be found to cover ongoing costs – approximately £115,000 per year for the real-time data system and £50,000 per year for “suicide awareness, prevention training and local campaign and resources”.

Cllr Jerry Roodhouse said: “Warwickshire has been a bit of an outlier for some time now, it is not a recent trend.

“It has been a consistent trend so I hope that the partners do step up and find the long-term funding because this is something that is desperately needed, you just cannot wait those months and years for the data to come in.

“Behind that, of course, is all of the mechanisms for getting the education, information and all the back-up materials out there to try to tackle some of the particular issues that happen around suicide.

“It is one of those things that you will never completely stop, people go to some pretty dark places at times but what should be out there is a lot of information in a lot of places.

“Identification is one of the key issues around that, and perhaps something to consider in the training of councillors around those elements.

“At this time of year we are knocking on a lot of doors and speaking to a lot of people. If we are all slightly more aware of what some of the signs are when you walk up to a house, or you hear something from a neighbour, you could make a significant impact.”