Council Budget passed

The York Council approved the LibDem/Green budget last night

In an unconnected development, the Council is today inviting residents to sign up for FREE suicide prevention training workshops in the City

People are being encouraged to sign up for free suicide prevention training workshops in York next month as part of the #TalkSuicide campaign from local NHS and council organisations.

The Humber, Coast and Vale Health and Care Partnership is hosting two workshops in York on Tuesday, 10^th March 2020 at Mariott Room, York Library, Library Square, York YO1 7DS – and members of the public are invited to attend to learn life-saving skills.

These one-hour workshops, which will run between 9.30am-10.30am and 11am-12pm, are free to attend but it is essential to register beforehand. You can register at bit.ly/talksuicideyork.

There were 6,507 registered suicides in the UK in 2018 – which amounts to one death by suicide every 80 minutes. Yorkshire and Humber had some of the highest rates of suicide in England in 2018.

The suicide prevention workshops will be group training sessions, including interactive video-based training from the Zero Suicide Alliance and discussion with people who work in suicide prevention within our local community. Free refreshments will be available.

Completing the training at the workshop will help you to:

Identify the signs of when someone might be suffering from suicidal thoughts.
Feel comfortable speaking out about suicide in a supportive manner.
Signpost anyone suffering from suicidal thoughts to the correct services and support.

The workshops are part of the Partnership’s #TalkSuicide campaign, which aims to reduce the stigma around talking about suicide by raising awareness about suicide in our communities and encouraging our people to complete suicide prevention training.

Jo Kent, Suicide Prevention Lead for the Humber, Coast and Vale Health and Care Partnership, said: “Every death by suicide is a tragedy and in Humber, Coast and Vale we are working collaboratively with the NHS, councils, voluntary organisations and other groups to prevent suicides from happening in our communities.

“The suicide prevention training is integral to this work as those who complete the training can make a real difference in their communities, simply by being better placed to identify those people who might be suicidal, and knowing what to say to them and signposting them to the most appropriate services.

“We want to train as many people as possible in our communities so if you can spare an hour on the morning of Tuesday, 10^th March please register for one of the free suicide prevention training workshops taking place in York – the skills you learn could help you save someone’s life in the future.”

Can’t attend either of the York workshops? Workshops are also being held in Scarborough, Beverley, Hull, Scunthorpe and Grimsby during March. Visit talksuicide.co.uk to find out when these workshops are taking place.

You can also complete the training on the talksuicide.co.uk website, where you can also find out more about the #TalkSuicide campaign.

Health and Wellbeing Board to discuss a suicide prevention strategy for York

Members of York’s Health and Wellbeing board will discuss a draft suicide prevention strategy for the city when they meet on Wednesday 9 May.

The strategy sets out the work the city will look to do with the ambition of the city getting Suicide Safer Community designation and sets out the aim for York to have a year on year reduction in the number of suicides in the city.

As well as comment on the draft strategy, board members will be asked to agree that the draft strategy go out to a 12 week public consultation.

Key objectives for the strategy include:

Reducing the risk of suicides in high risk groups
Tailoring approaches to improve mental health in specific groups
Providing better information and support for those affected by suicide
Reducing rates of self harm
Training and awareness raising.

By tackling many of the issues that sometimes lead to suicide the strategy looks at how York as a city can address the risks and triggers that can result in suicide.

The hope is that the plan will help create greater social cohesion, improved community links and availability of support leading to more open caring conversations and a desire for people to look after each other and talk to one another when they are struggling.

The presentation of the strategy comes after an audit of suicides in the city in late 2016 which found the number of suicides in York to be above the national and regional average. The findings from this audit have informed suicide prevention work and activities and have fed into this draft suicide prevention plan. (more…)

Events to tackle and discuss suicide prevention in York

City of York Council is arranging two events next month as it looks to further York’s work to become a suicide-safer community.

September is the month of World Suicide Prevention Day and the council will hold two events as it continues its work on suicide prevention.

Firstly on Saturday 9 September at 12noon, the day before World Suicide Prevention Day, St Helen’s Church will host a service of reflection for those who have been lost to suicide. The event is open to all who have been bereaved or affected by suicide, regardless of faith or non faith, and enable people to reflect on those lost to suicide with others who have had similar experiences.

Then on Monday 18 September, York will host a suicide prevention conference. The event will offer the chance for people to hear about the work being done in York, the progress made over the past year and to share views on how the city can become a suicide-safer community. This will be an opportunity for people to have their say on their experiences and where they feel the support available can be improved.

The event will be taking place between 11.30 am and 5pm at York Sports Club on Monday 18 September, and will:

Share stories about people’s experiences
Outline what support is available to people and how this can be improved
Discuss prevention and early intervention
Talk about support for people who are bereaved by suicide
Discuss community engagement and equality
Include a workshop to identify areas which can be improved to help York become a suicide-safer city

Speakers will include professionals and people who have been affected by suicide. To reserve a place please email wdu@york.gov.uk, phone 01904 553017 or via www.yorkworkforcedevelopment.org.uk/cycbooking.
(more…)

Suicide levels in York – Council acts

A Council meeting will also assess a five year audit of suicides in the city, between 2010 and 2014 which looked at all deaths in York in which the coroner concluded that it was death by suicide. The audit was conducted in line with national guidance in order to enable better understanding of the pattern of suicide in the city.

The findings highlight the fact that the number of suicides in York is above the national and regional average and looks to inform suicide prevention work and activities and feed into a future suicide prevention plan.

Recommendations on suicide prevention which will be discussed at the meeting will include:

· Work towards achieving formal ‘Suicide Safer Community’ accreditation
· Develop a suicide prevention framework for York
· Undertake a regular programme of suicide audits
· Develop ‘suicide surveillance’ and real time ‘early alert’ processes to improve the multi-agency response
· Provide more responsive support arrangements to those affected by suicide
· Ensure that those people who are affected by suicide are able to have their views and experiences heard

The report follows a conference held last month which launched an ambition for York to be a Suicide-Safer community and part of a Mental Health Friendly County.

Councillor Carol Runciman, Executive Member for Health and Adult Social Care and Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board said: “Suicide devastates the lives of individuals, families and communities. This audit and meeting will look at how we as a city can improve our suicide prevention work and better support our residents. It is important that we talk about suicide and that as a council we continue to work with partners across the city to prevent suicides.”

Sharon Stoltz, Director of Public Health at City of York Council said: “Every suicide is a tragedy and City of York Council takes the issue of suicide and preventing deaths by suicide very seriously. This audit, which is in line with national best practice, reviews every death between 2010 and 2014 where the coroners outcome was suicide. The audit provides an opportunity to discuss suicide prevention and find areas where we as a city can improve the support available, which will feed into our suicide prevention plan, and I would like to thank officers and partners who supported this work.”
(more…)

World Suicide Prevention Day tomorrow (Saturday)

The conference will launch an ambition for York to be a Suicide-Safer community and part of a Mental Health Friendly County. The event will offer the chance for people to hear about the work being done in York and offer views on how the city can become a Suicide-Safer community. It will also invite people to have their say on their experiences and where they feel the support available can be improved. Alternatively people are welcome to come along and listen to the talks which are taking place throughout the day.
(more…)

York residents less happy with care services

Suicide rates up

In York the most recent figures show that a total of 30 people died by suicide in York in 2013, decreasing to 16 in 2014 before increasing again to 28 in 2015.

A report published this week raised other concerns about care services in the City,

“Delayed transfers of care from hospital, and those which are attributable to adult social care of NHS care and those which are attributable to adult social care have risen slightly since last year and, although they have not returned to poor levels seen 2013/14, York remains above (worse than) the national, family and regional average for these indicators”.

The overall satisfaction level for people who use care and support services shows a decrease from last year (64% down from 67% in 2014/15) and a sustained fall since 2013/14, with York performance now slightly below the regional and national averages.

There were two indicators where York had significantly worse outcomes compared with the England average: hospital admissions for self-harm for people aged 10-24 and hospital admissions for tooth decay for children aged between 1 and 4 years.

Available local data on self-harm for this age range shows that 80% of admissions were females, the largest group were females aged 15-19 and there were a number of young people with multiple admissions in the year. A self-harm needs assessment has recently been carried out to enhance understanding of this issue within the City.

There were 117 admissions for tooth decay in York over a three-year period and based on the England average only 83 would have been expected.

The figures are being discussed at a Council Executive meeting later today

Action in York to reduce number of suicides

Support for people having suicidal thoughts or who have been affected by a sudden death

City of York Council is raising awareness of support available for people with thoughts of suicide and those who are concerned about someone else as part of its continuing work to improve mental health in the city.

The “Stay Alive” app, which is free to download, is part of the Grassroots Suicide Prevention work which looks to teach suicide alertness and intervention skills to community members and professionals.
(more…)

York Council Supports World Suicide Prevention Day

Thursday 10 September is World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) and the theme is “preventing suicide: reaching out and saving lives.” It is designed to encourage people to consider the role that offering support may play in combatting suicide; the act of showing care and concern to someone who may be vulnerable to suicide can prove to be a life saver.

In England someone dies by suicide every two hours1 and while the long term national trend has been downwards, this reduction has halted and the number of people dying by suicide each year in York has been increasing in more recent years. In York, 30 people died from suicide in 2013, nearly 3 times the number in 2012.
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World Suicide Prevention Day

To raise awareness of World Suicide Prevention Day people are being asked to light a candle near a window at 8pm on 10 September to show support for suicide prevention, to remember a lost loved one and for the survivors of suicide.

(more…)

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