Hansard

As we go through this debate, certain topics are mentioned by many speakers.

I welcome the suicide prevention action plan, with its 10 action points. In the foreword to the plan, Clare Haughey states:

“The Scottish Government believes that no death by suicide should be regarded as acceptable or inevitable.”

It is important that that statement is remembered and is at the forefront of our thinking and that it does not get lost in the words that follow as the plan’s implementation is described.

Data on suicide is routinely collected and analysed by the National Records of Scotland and the Scottish public health observatory. There are some promising statistics. For example, suicide rates in Scotland have reduced by 18 percent over the past 10 years. However, as Angela Constance said, every life matters when discussing statistics.

Despite the domestic downward trend in suicides, suicide and self-harm continue to be major public health issues in Scotland. Around two people die by suicide in Scotland every day. Further, almost unbelievably, almost two out of every three Scots—myself included—have some experience of suicide. That is a worrying fact that I am sure that ministers will pay heed to.

Mental health problems are one of the main issues that need to be addressed as part of a suicide prevention strategy. For example, in my region, only one third of Tayside children waiting for mental health treatment were seen within 18 weeks in the most recent quarter. The target is for 90 percent to be seen within that timeframe. At 34 per cent, NHS Tayside’s performance is the worst in Scotland.

Treatment is crucial, of course, but we must also tackle the underlying reasons for why so many people take their own lives. For example, those living in the most deprived areas are more than three times as likely to die by suicide as those in the least deprived areas. David Stewart gave us some insight into that. The issue is a particular challenge in Dundee, in my region. The city has among the highest levels of deprivation in Scotland, and statistics show that the number of Dundee suicide deaths rose by 61 percent from 2015 to 2016.

It is important for the Scottish Government to consider how it plans to provide suicide prevention training across the public and private sectors. Clare Haughey has said that the national suicide prevention leadership group will consider the details of that and will make recommendations to ministers on the most appropriate focus for the refreshed training that is to be developed under action 2 in the plan.

The minister has mentioned that suicides on the railways are a prominent issue in Scotland. I have met a train driver who experienced suicide while doing his job, and I discussed with him the ways in which the issue can be tackled. Thankfully, railways and train companies are taking action and making progress. Network Rail, the train operating companies, trade unions, British Transport Police, the Railway Mission and the Rail Safety and Standards Board have been proactively working with Samaritans since 2010 to reduce suicides on the railway and to support anyone who is involved in the aftermath of a railway suicide. By the end of 2016-17, more than 14,500 front-line railway personnel had been trained in how to intervene to prevent suicide attempts, and around 1,575 personnel had been trained in trauma support. ScotRail holds regular awareness events at major stations to raise awareness and engage people in conversation about mental health issues, which is to be commended.

The suicide prevention action plan sets out a vision of providing better support to those who are bereaved by suicide. One of my constituents has experienced the loss of a life of someone close to her through suicide, and she states that the lack of support provided after such an instance is a widespread problem. There can often be a stigma attached and many people find themselves isolated after losing a loved one through suicide. She wrote to me and said:

“I’ve experienced bereavement in the past but the agony that comes after a suicide is beyond description. The pain, confusion, guilt and anger is immense and it’s a lonely place to be. When you lose someone under natural circumstances, you get flowers, sympathy cards. With a suicide it’s almost like being a leper.”

My constituent also says that the only support that she was given was antidepressants and sedatives. There were no regular appointments to check how she was coping and whether she needed help. I can only imagine the feeling of deep loneliness, and I hope that the new strategy makes situations like that a thing of the past.

We welcome the fact that the Scottish Government has finally published its suicide prevention action plan. The previous plan expired in 2016, leaving Scotland without a suicide strategy for over a year and a half, which is not really acceptable. However, now that the action plan has been published, it is imperative that the Scottish National Party delivers it quickly and effectively, with no further delays, in order to tackle problems such as those that I have raised today.

I repeat the statement from Clare Haughey in the introduction to the plan:

“no death by suicide should be regarded as either acceptable or inevitable.”

I ask that we keep that at the forefront of our thoughts.