Meeting of the Parliament 21 November 2017
Yes, absolutely.
Suicide is the biggest killer of men aged under 50. Three quarters of those who die by suicide in Scotland are men. Focusing on how health services meet the needs of men, especially young men at risk, must be central to the new action plan if we are to tackle stigma. A suicide prevention action plan can be successful only if it is backed up with adequate resources, which means an end to cuts to local budgets and to austerity, wherever it derives from. The decimation and roll-back of services is heaping pressure on front-line staff and is making it more difficult for the signs of suicide to be spotted and taken seriously.
The publication of the Scottish suicide information database report last week revealed that more than two thirds of those who went on to complete suicides had some contact with health services in the year before they died, while more than one quarter visited an A and E department within three months of their death. As a nation, we must invest more in front-line services, resources and training to ensure that staff have adequate support to spot the signs of those in need and to provide appropriate intervention.
It is vitally important that any action plan should contain reporting and evaluating mechanisms. In March this year, in the context of the previous strategy, I raised that issue during First Minister’s question time. I was disappointed that that was not taken forward. The new action plan must have mechanisms that allow it to be robustly evaluated and monitored, with clear lines of accountability and a commitment to resources. Given the current crisis in mental health, I expect that the minister is making strong representations to the finance secretary ahead of the forthcoming budget. A reduction in the suicide rate can be achieved with a properly funded action plan and a focused effort on working collaboratively across services. I appeal to the Scottish Government to ensure that the forthcoming action plan reflects those shared ambitions.
I move amendment S5M-09000.3, to insert after “complex area”:
“; notes the link between suicide and socioeconomic disadvantage, with the suicide rate being three times higher in the most deprived communities; believes that suicide prevention should be rooted in efforts to reduce overall poverty and inequality; recognises that adequate funding of front-line services is vital to the success of local suicide prevention and that continuing austerity is harmful to this work; acknowledges calls for the new suicide prevention strategy to have robust evaluation and reporting mechanisms”.
15:27Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.