The RCN, in collaboration with Public Health England (PHE), has launched a toolkit to guide nurses and other health professionals in the prevention of suicide in lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gender (LGBT) young people. LGBT youth are at a higher risk of suicide than their heterosexual peers due to the…

Health and Social Services Minister Mark Drakeford used a visit to the Samaritans in Cardiff to promote the Welsh Government’s new plan to reduce suicide and self harm and to congratulate the branch on its 50th anniversary. The Minister met officials and volunteers at the Canton branch of the charity…

A new five-year plan to reduce suicide and self harm in Wales has been unveiled for consultation by the Welsh Government. Each year in Wales between 300 and 350 people die from suicide - about three times the number killed in road accidents. There are approximately 5,500 hospital admissions for…

Mr Conor McCafferty has been appointed to the position of Chair of the Suicide Strategy Implementation Body for a term of three years. Speaking about the appointment, Health Minister Jim Wells said: “I welcome the appointment of Conor who has been involved in suicide prevention and self–harm work over a…

Talking therapy can prevent people bent on suicide from stepping over the brink, a study has found. Six to 10 counselling sessions reduced suicide deaths by more than a quarter in a group of Danish men and women who had already tried to kill themselves. Five years after the course…

Northern Ireland Health Minister Jim Wells has said that early intervention for positive mental health and wider measures to improve the quality of life are undoubtedly part of the long-term answer to suicide. The Minister was highlighting suicide prevention initiatives being taken forward and the current work ongoing around the…

Mental health patients are at the highest risk of committing suicide in the first two weeks after leaving hospital, latest figures have shown. Data from the report entitled: National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness was being presented to healthcare leaders on 16 July. It…

The University of Ulster has said new research it has carried out indicates a direct link between suicidal behaviour in Northern Ireland having experienced the violence of the Troubles first hand. Lead author of the paper, Professor Siobhan O’Neill from the Bamford Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing at the…

The Scottish Government’s strategy to reduce suicide focuses on 5 key themes of work in communities and in services with 11 commitments to continue the downward trend in suicides and contribute to the delivery of the National Outcome to enable people to live longer, healthier lives. The key themes are:…