Meeting of the Parliament 26 October 2022
It is important that I start with a simple truth. Every suicide is a tragedy that has profound and lasting effects on people’s lives. It is imperative that Governments set a clear course to reduce suicide and to ensure that anyone who is affected by suicide is able to get the help that they need.
Today, I am happy to say that, a few weeks ago, we launched a document that I believe does just that—the new 10-year suicide prevention strategy from the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, “Creating Hope Together: Scotland’s Suicide Prevention Strategy 2022-2032”.
The work around time, space and compassion for people in suicidal crisis has emerged over the past few years, and it now forms a key foundation of our new strategy and action plan. We understand that we also need to embed those principles right across our work to build compassionate communities and services.
I must acknowledge that although we launched the strategy and the associated three-year action plan last month, the impact of the national period of mourning on parliamentary business meant that this statement could not be made until today. However, I am pleased that I am now able to make it, because key to the strategy is an ambition for everyone to work together to prevent suicide.
Members across the chamber know the devastating impact that any death by suicide has on families, on friends and on communities. Although the number of people who take their lives has, thankfully, reduced in each of the past two years, we know that there is still much to do to reduce suicide deaths in Scotland.
Our aim is for any child, young person or adult who has thoughts of taking their own life, or who is affected by suicide, to get the help that they need and to feel a sense of hope.
Our approach needs to be rooted in the three principles of time, space and compassion. That must be the case across Government, across party lines and across all sectors and communities. To put it simply, we all must do everything that we can to reduce death by suicide in Scotland.
I would like to thank everyone involved in shaping the strategy, including members in the chamber today, for the way in which they have positively engaged and supported the work.
We have called our new strategy “Creating Hope Together”. That is absolutely what we need to do to deliver our vision of reducing suicide deaths in Scotland. We are backing the strategy by doubling annual funding for suicide prevention to £2.8 million by 2025-26.
We know that if we are to deliver our vision, we must build on our successes to date, particularly the way in which our approaches have been shaped by evidence of what works and the views of those with lived experience, including the national suicide prevention leadership group, which has been recognised for its work by the World Health Organization. I would like to take this opportunity to again thank the lived experience panel and all those involved in the leadership group for their work.
Our new strategy continues to drive forward key actions from “Every Life Matters”, our previous action plan. That includes our vital work to reduce stigma and grow public awareness of suicide and its prevention; to embed time, space and compassion into the responses that people receive when they are suicidal, both within services and within their communities; and to support people bereaved by suicide.
Crucially, though, we also plan to step up our approach. The strategy and action plan set out a number of new approaches—again, guided by insights and evidence. I would like to highlight a few of them.
First, the strategy seeks to support anyone affected by suicide, whatever their age or experience. That could be their own experience of suicidal thoughts, caring for someone close to them, or feeling affected by suicide more generally in our society. We know that we will succeed only by supporting everyone affected by suicide.
Secondly, we are taking a whole-of-Government-and-society approach to tackling the inequalities that contribute to suicide. Statistics tell us only too clearly that certain groups are at higher risk of suicide. Deprivation can be a key factor, so it is important that we seek to tackle the social determinants of suicide through policies such as reducing child poverty, tackling homelessness and funding debt advice. That is all the more important at a time when the cost of living crisis is impacting significantly on so many lives.
The third theme in the strategy is a strong focus on reaching and supporting people who are at higher risk of suicide as early as we can. In this Parliament, we have recently reflected on the value of initiatives such as men’s sheds in promoting good mental health and reducing suicide risk. The strategy highlights our aim of taking a proactive approach to supporting other groups who may have a higher risk, such as people who are LGBTI or neurodivergent. We will work with people with lived and professional experience to understand more about how we can connect and support more marginalised groups. That includes how we can remove barriers and ensure that the responses that people receive are embodied by the principles of time, space and compassion and are culturally appropriate.
We also wish to focus on the different needs of population groups. For example, older adults and children and young people may have different needs and different types of responses that are suited to them.
We are taking a focused approach right across our work so that we have maximum effect in our overall aim to reduce suicide. The strategy prioritises settings such as prisons and locations of concern, particular communities and parts of the workforce where we feel our efforts can make the biggest difference.
We have a very solid baseline of understanding through our work in Scotland over the past two decades and our first-class academic research. Both have been fundamental in shaping the contents of the new strategy and the action plan. That research also reminds us of the importance of sensitive media reporting of suicide, and so that is another priority for action.
Evidence also tells us that it is crucial that people who are suicidal get the support that they need from services. We know that many people who die by suicide have had contact with statutory services—often health and social care services—leading up to their death. Through the strategy, we want to make sure that, whenever someone contacts services, they will be met with compassion and given the support that they need. That support should promote their wellbeing, protect against suicide and have a primary focus on recovery. Our work encompasses primary care, mental health and unscheduled care settings.
The final area that I will highlight is peer support. One of the strongest messages that we heard in developing the strategy was the value of people talking to others who have shared their experience of suicide. I have been fortunate to hear first-hand accounts of the value of peer support, both at the launch of the strategy and in the countless discussions that I have had with those with lived experience. Peer support clearly gives people a deep connection, which not only offers them personal support but can help create a path to recovery. We will seek to embed peer support and recovery models for suicide prevention, working with key partners such as the Scottish Recovery Network.
In developing the strategy, we have both deepened existing relationships and created new ones. We must continue to nurture those relationships so that we can truly create hope together in our mission to prevent suicide. The strategy and action plan set out the plans of the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to realise our vision, working across sectors and bringing our local and national work together in a meaningful way.
I once again thank everyone who contributed to the development of the strategy and action plan across all our partners and stakeholders as well as members of all parties, including members who are in the chamber today. I thank you all for your efforts.
We all have our part to play in preventing suicide. I very much look forward to seeing the progress that we will make together as we create hope together and make a profound and lasting difference to people’s lives.