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Suicide Prevention Training Bill - Órlaithí Flynn MLA
Órlaithí Flynn MLA invites your views on a Private Members' Bill which she is currently developing to create a statutory duty on public bodies and government departments to provide basic suicide prevention training to all frontline public facing staff, across the north of Ireland.
The World Health Organisation recognises suicide as a public health priority and recognises each suicide as preventable.
There were 307 registered suicides across the north in 2018, which is nearly 6 deaths every single week. Every suicide is a tragic loss of life and it has a broader, and often devastating, impact on the persons’ family, friends and wider community.
The 2020 Department of Health, annual Health Inequalities report, stated that the suicide inequality rate had widened. The suicide rate in the most deprived areas are nearly three and a half times higher than affluent areas.
The current suicide prevention strategy with a target to reduce suicide by 10% has a training framework that is mainly focused on community and voluntary organisations working in healthcare and mental health. It is largely left to those organisations themselves to proactively develop and deliver training to their employees and volunteers.
This PMB seeks to introduce a statutory duty on public bodies and government departments to provide basic suicide prevention training to all frontline public facing staff, who have not already received such training, (equivalent training, or training to a higher level). This statutory duty would be an important step forward in tackling the suicide crisis our communities continue to experience.
Frontline public facing staff, are those whose job role and responsibilities, see them directly interact with members of the public, for much of their typical working week. This would train, for example, staff in social services offices or jobs and benefits offices to recognise the signs of emotional distress that present in members of the public as they engage with them in their work. Knowing these signs would equip staff on how to engage sensitively with people in a vulnerable situation and also be able to sign post them to other supports or services. It could also empower staff to raise concerns they have for individuals with relevant services.
Small interventions such as these could put vulnerable people in contact with much needed support. Suicide is everyone’s business and ultimately, small interventions within a wide range of services, could be lifesaving.
I want to hear the views and opinions of you the public and of organisations interested in suicide prevention with regards to my Bill to create a statutory duty on public bodies and government departments to provide basic suicide prevention training to all frontline public facing staff.
