Hansard

I am grateful to the Presiding Officer for permission to be excused for the earlier part of the debate, which allowed me to stick to a prior engagement with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work. However, I am sorry to have missed the earlier speeches. I welcome Clare Haughey to her ministerial role and I record my appreciation for all Maureen Watt’s assistance in the past. As I am sure other members have done, I extend my sympathy to anyone who has lost a loved one to suicide. I know that the debate will be quite challenging to listen to, at times.

The updated suicide prevention action plan that was published by the Government in the summer is welcome. The steps that have been outlined by the Scottish Government are encouraging, and I am pleased that the views of stakeholders such as Samaritans Scotland that gave feedback on the earlier draft of the plan have been taken on board and addressed. I commend the minister for her consideration of earlier critiques and for producing a plan that has more ambition and leadership at national level. That is welcome, but it is clear that we still have a significant amount of work to do to reduce Scotland’s suicide rate. We know that we have to do better.

It is a tragedy that Scotland’s suicide rate remains so high—higher than that of the rest of the UK—and that men, especially middle-aged men, are most at risk. Suicide is preventable and each death by suicide is a tragedy that creates a wave of devastation that affects countless people who are left behind.

That was recently brought into sharp focus for me after a constituent turned to me for help following the death by suicide of her partner. My constituent Luke Henderson completed suicide at the end of last year, just three days after Christmas, despite presenting at health services eight times in the week before he died. His partner, Karen, who is the mother of their two young children, has been incredibly brave in speaking out publicly about what she sees as a series of failures to secure the help for Luke that she feels could almost certainly have saved his life.

Luke had a history of poor mental health, and had struggled with addiction. He was passed from pillar to post, turned away from GP services and accident and emergency services, and was eventually referred to an addiction service with a promise that that would help, only to get there and find out that he had to fill in more forms. He was sent on his way again, and in the early hours of the morning following that final appointment Luke sadly completed suicide at the family home.

NHS Lanarkshire’s initial review of Luke’s death found that staff had followed procedures. Having reviewed much of Luke’s paperwork at first hand, and having supported his partner Karen in her mission to get answers from NHS Lanarkshire during the past few months, I found that conclusion to be deeply troubling, to say the least. If that conclusion is to be accepted, it could not be clearer to me that the procedures need urgent review. After several months of working on Luke’s case, I am pleased to say that NHS Lanarkshire agreed to do a further review, which is now under way.

I am also grateful to the First Minister. After I raised Luke’s experience at First Minister’s questions last week, she agreed to ask the Minister for Mental Health to meet Karen. My office has made contact with the Government to set up a meeting; I look forward to meeting the minister with Karen to discuss Luke’s case and to ensure that appropriate action that needs to be taken in the aftermath of the review is taken.

Luke’s case underlines so much of the human tragedy that is linked with suicide, and the lessons that services must learn, especially in the light of the new actions that are proposed in the action plan. The plan is certainly ambitious, but the target of reaching a 20 per cent reduction in suicides by 2020 can be achieved only through allocation of sufficient resources. As other members are, I am particularly pleased about the commitment to roll out refreshed mental health and suicide prevention training for NHS staff from next year. However, I seek clarity on how the annual £1 million will be allocated, and how quickly it will be rolled out.

Bob Doris made an important point. My staff have undertaken the SAMH training that was provided in Parliament, and I know that other MSPs have spoken about that kind of training. We would all benefit from such training.

The action plan also commits the leadership group to ensuring that there are appropriate reviews into all deaths by suicide. I welcome that, but for such reviews to be truly meaningful, they have to take into account the views of family members. I refer again to Karen and Luke Henderson and how their case brought that across strongly to me.

Other members have spoken about young people in particular. The latest CAMHS statistics are woeful and worrying. The job that of making sure that young people are not left behind is for us all.

Also, one in four adults is waiting more than 18 weeks for psychological therapies.

I know that I have to finish, Presiding Officer, but some really great work is going on. I commend to the minister the work that Place2Be is doing, particularly at Beckford primary school in Hamilton, which I know is not far from the minister. It is doing good work and young people are benefiting from early intervention. We in Labour are delighted with the commitment to rolling out school-based counselling in all schools.

I welcome the suicide prevention action plan and look forward to working with the minister on Luke Henderson’s case and others.