A PLAN to tackle suicide is being launched at the Halliwell Jones Stadium to mark World Suicide Prevention Day.
Champs Public Health Collaborative and Mersey Care NHS Trust have joined forces with the ambition of “zero suicide”.
To achieve that, they will engage users, provide safe and effective care, ensure all staff have the appropriate knowledge and skills, and undertake continuing research and evaluation.
Professor Appleby said: “When I started in suicide research 25 years ago there was a widespread view that suicide was often inevitable, that it could be postponed but not prevented, that clinical services had little to offer against what was essentially a social phenomenon.
“Joint initiatives like this one between Champs Public Health Collaborative and Mersey Care NHS Trust show that view has changed. There is a strong sense now that the stigma of suicide can be overcome, that people can get through a suicidal crisis and that frontline staff have the skills to make a difference.”
The event at the home of Warrington Wolves, will include several notable speakers including Professor Louis Appleby, the Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Manchester and Chair of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy Advisory Group with the Department of Health, Dr David Fearnley, Medical Director at Mersey Care NHS Trust, Dr Rita Robertson, Director of Public Health at Warrington Council, and Angela Samata, presenter of BBC documentary ‘Life After Suicide’ and member of the All Party Parliamentary Group – Suicide and Self Harm Prevention.
Dr Robertson added: “The vision for Cheshire and Merseyside is to achieve a region where suicide is eliminated. Creating a momentum for large scale change is the key and we want those within our communities who are struggling to not consider suicide as a solution to the difficulties they face.
“Our plans are ambitious but we believe if service providers, individuals, communities and society as a whole work together more effectively to improve mental health, it will help prevent suicides and address what is currently a major social and public health issue. “
The NO MORE zero suicide strategy will be available online from 10 September at www.no-more.co.uk.
