Agenda item

The Chairman invited to the table:

·         Dr Jeff Lake - Consultant in Public Health, LB Barnet

Dr Lake provided an update on actions from the 2018/19 report noting that council officers have been working with the police to explore ways of disseminating the Help is at Hand document for those who first meet a bereaved family after suicide. The Police had expressed an interest in ‘Making Every Contact Count’ training and this had been arranged from April 2019.

The Child Death Overview Panel’s work had led to a useful understanding regarding safety planning at the point of discharge from hospital following self-harm or suicidal ideation. It had been found that patients and families were reluctant for information to be shared, so it may be helpful to develop some guidance for patients on how their data would be used. 

Dr Lake reported that work was ongoing through Barnet’s Schools Resilience Programme on building positive mental wellbeing and increasing capacity to respond to self-harm concerns.

A Member asked whether the increase in the incidence of self-harm over the past ten years could be attributed to social media sites. Dr Lake responded that there was a clear increasing trend and an increase in severity. The national attention to the role of social media recently was welcomed.

A Member noted that on page 49, 5.5.1 of the report, it states that “there is no statutory authority for Councils to require partners to take action” on suicide prevention. The Member asked if this was an impediment and whether there was a difference for minors.  Dr Lake noted that where a safeguarding concern had been identified, the local Authority had a statutory role.

Dr Lake reported that Thrive London was shortly due to launch an information-sharing platform for partners on cases of suspected suicides. Also, coroners’ data was being looked at in an attempt to create consistent reporting across London. A local audit of Barnet cases proved to be difficult to analyse due to the small number of cases suggesting that some trends might best be identified over wider geographical areas.

Ms Wakeling added that there is no statutory duty requiring other agencies to cooperate with the local Authority, in contrast to safeguarding issues for children or adults. She suggested that it would be helpful if the HOSC requested information directly from partners on the Suicide Prevention Working Group since it had the power to scrutinise this. 

A Member suggested asking for information on the availability of counselling in the Borough and waiting times, since more funding had been provided for mental health recently.

Cllr Rawlings noted that he had had involvement with six suicide cases. The link between self-harm and a possible intention to commit suicide is not clear. Cllr Rawlings offered to speak to any relevant contact as he had had to deal with cases. Dr Lake would arrange this.

Action: Dr Lake

The Chairman noted that it would be useful to discuss suicide prevention at the July meeting and hopefully with some of the partners. It would be helpful to have some of the London-wide statistics.

Action: Governance Officer, Dr Lake

Resolved that the Committee noted the report.