Hansard

Scottish Labour welcomes the opportunity to debate suicide prevention, following world suicide prevention day 2018 on Monday 10 September. I thank every organisation, family and individual that has contributed to the development of the suicide prevention action plan. Behind every statistic on suicide is a loved one, family and community that faces the sad reality that a suicide was not prevented. All suicides are preventable in some way and people who have died from suicide did not need to suffer in silence or alone.

Every level of government, public service and community has a role to play in reaching out and supporting people who feel that there is no option but suicide. The new action plan, “Every Life Matters”, is welcome. The title is as important as the 10 actions that it contains. We must send a message to families that are affected by suicide that we will endeavour to prevent their suffering from happening to others because every life matters. It is disheartening that the most recent child and adolescent mental health services statistics reveal a record low performance on waiting times for children and young people who access mental health services. Our amendment places the necessary focus on CAMHS in preventing suicide and calls on the Scottish Government to apply any lessons drawn from the Tayside inquiry to the whole of Scotland where appropriate.

It is regrettable that, in 2017, there were 680 deaths by suicide. It is equally regrettable that that represents a rate of 13.9 per 100,000 people—the highest in the United Kingdom. All members present will share my concern at the increase in suicide among young men, with 2017 showing an increase for the third consecutive year. We welcome the target to reduce suicide by 20 per cent by 2022. Funding will be key to achieving that and, although we welcome the £1 million that has been allocated, the funding needs to be carefully monitored to ensure that there is transparency and that resource allocations are enough to match the aspirations in the plan.

Blame for the tragic rate of suicide can be attributed to no single Government, party or individual. As a society and a Parliament, we all shoulder that responsibility. All levels of government, public bodies and third sector organisations require to collaborate to reduce and prevent suicides. We hope that the Scottish Government’s new suicide prevention action plan will achieve that and we will support the Government in its aims and vision. However, the plan should have been introduced sooner.

Ensuring that people who are at risk of suicide are supported comes with funding pressures. The new mental health investment that was announced last week goes only so far. Scotland needs a radical reprioritisation to place mental health on an equal footing with physical health. That can be achieved only with effective and adequate levels of funding. The staff who work in our NHS, in social care and in the third sector are dependent on the right funding to safeguard and extend the levels of care that they provide to people who seek mental health support. Many people would suffer from poorer mental health were it not for the staff, and I pay tribute to the professionalism and dedication of all staff who work in mental health services.

Suicide is preventable and early intervention is key to that prevention. That is why it is crucial that we have mental health services for children and young people that support and enable good mental health at the earliest age.

With estimates telling us that one in four people have poor mental health, there will be many cases where an adult experiences poor mental health at a later age and may not have required access to CAMHS. The reasons for poor mental health range from person to person, but the statistics tell us that the adults who are dying are mostly men and many of them are in poverty. In times of austerity-driven public policy, it has remained harder to ensure that funding is available. That is why we must end austerity; we must invest in health and other public services that help to identify, reach out to, and support people who are at risk of suicide. Austerity is at the heart of the shameful welfare changes that have resulted in premature deaths across the UK and in suicides. Poverty is a key driver behind suicide. That can be witnessed in the statistics showing that areas of high deprivation experience higher rates of suicide.

It is worth reminding ourselves that Scotland was once a leader in suicide prevention. However, local prevention work varied greatly, and there is a need for better evaluation and accountability. This plan is an opportunity for that focus and direction to be placed back on prevention.

It is our sincere hope that the Scottish Government’s action plan continues to lower suicide rates. For every suicide prevented, we know that the plan is working. Investment in CAMHS and in all mental health staff can play a key part in that and by supporting Scottish Labour’s amendment today, members will demonstrate that the Parliament can unite to show that every suicide is preventable.

I move amendment S5M-13847.3, to insert at end:

“; recognises the importance of early intervention for supporting good mental wellbeing; welcomes the recent Scottish Government announcement that it will invest in school-based counsellors; notes that this policy has had wide support for some time, given the pressure on youth mental health services, as evidenced in the most recent CAMHS publications, which detail a record low performance on waiting times; acknowledges that adult mental health services are also under pressure like never before; commends the tireless work of the staff of all of Scotland’s mental health services; recognises the importance of ensuring that all support services are given the resources that they need to provide care to deliver the reduction in suicide rates; notes the independent review of mental health services in Tayside and its national significance, and calls on the Scottish Government to draw lessons for the whole of Scotland where appropriate.”