Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the guidance to health commissioners to mandate providers to complete minimum data sets, what assessment they have made of whether high quality, safe and non-discriminatory care is being provided to black and minority ethnic groups.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
As reflected in the first principle of the NHS Constitution, the National Health Service is committed to providing high quality, safe and non-discriminatory care for its users irrespective of their of protected characteristics. NHS organisations are subject to the public sector equality duty and other provisions of The Equality Act 2010 in carrying out their public functions and services. This means that they must think about the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination and advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic, such as race, and those who do not. Compliance with equality duties is embedded in the NHS regulatory framework and NHS organisations can be challenged in the courts if they fail to comply. As part of their enforcement powers, the Equality and Human Rights Commission can also take action against NHS organisations to ensure compliance.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the guidance for commissioners of mental health services to people from black and minority ethnic communities on inequalities in access, experience and outcomes in mental health care.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The Department is committed to involving patients and service users in the development of national mental health policy. It does not monitor this engagement centrally.
The Department commissioned the Mental Health Providers’ Forum and the Race Equality Foundation to gather and review evidence of effective mental health service for Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups. The review Better practice in mental health for black and minority ethnic communities was published in May 2015.
The report found that organisations that were successful in providing mental health services that meet the needs of BME groups had developed local community-based approaches to service delivery which addressed cultural and linguistic differences and sought to actively engage hard to reach groups.
The Department has also supported guidance published by the Joint Commissioning Panel in 2014 A guide for commissioners of mental health services for people from black and minority ethnic communities. http://www.jcpmh.info/good-services/black-minority-ethnic-communities/
The guide set out 10 key messages for commissioners to improve services. These included: commissioning equitable access to mental health services for people regardless of ethnicity and identify and taking action to reduce ethnic inequalities; better local data collection to build understanding and competencies in commissioning services that meet the needs of BME groups; clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and health and wellbeing board developing strategies for BME groups; and involving and engaging service users in commissioning decisions.
Copies of these reports are attached.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the advice given in the<i> Dancing To Our Own Tunes</i> guidance by the National Survivor User Network, what assessment they have made of the involvement of black and minority ethnic service users in Clinical Commissioning Groups and local authorities.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The Department is committed to involving patients and service users in the development of national mental health policy. However, it does not monitor this engagement centrally.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the level of investment in public mental health intervention in each of the last three years.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
Previously, spend on public mental health has been a sub-category of the miscellaneous reporting category and most councils would have captured this spend locally. From 2016-17, mental health spend from the public health grant has its own dedicated reporting category and the information will be available nationally.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the role of the Commonwealth and its organisations in capacity-building in Commonwealth Ministries of Health and Parliaments, in the light of lessons learnt from the experience of Sierra Leone and the outbreak of ebola there.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The effect of the Ebola outbreak on Universal Health Coverage will be discussed at the next Commonwealth Health Ministers Meeting in May. Supporting countries to strengthen their health systems remains a top priority for the Government’s health work in West Africa and beyond.
The Government has met with the Commonwealth Foundation to discuss how civil society in Sierra Leone can be supported in tackling the Ebola crisis.
The Ebola outbreak has further demonstrated the importance of supporting countries to implement the International Health Regulations core capacities in order to detect and respond to outbreaks quickly. The Government is keen to accelerate international efforts to this end, working closely with the World Health Organization and through partnerships such as the Global Health Security Agenda. The Government sees the Commonwealth Health Ministers Meeting as an opportunity for the Commonwealth Secretariat to raise awareness of the importance of health system strengthening in the Commonwealth.
The Government will work with the Government of Sierra Leone and partners to seek a legacy of effective systems and structures that will contribute to improved future service delivery and infrastructure. This will ensure that should Sierra Leone be faced with a subsequent outbreak of Ebola or other disease, it is able to respond effectively.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have met the Commonwealth Secretariat, or other institutions of the Commonwealth, to discuss health system strengthening as a response to the outbreak of ebola in Sierra Leone.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The effect of the Ebola outbreak on Universal Health Coverage will be discussed at the next Commonwealth Health Ministers Meeting in May. Supporting countries to strengthen their health systems remains a top priority for the Government’s health work in West Africa and beyond.
The Government has met with the Commonwealth Foundation to discuss how civil society in Sierra Leone can be supported in tackling the Ebola crisis.
The Ebola outbreak has further demonstrated the importance of supporting countries to implement the International Health Regulations core capacities in order to detect and respond to outbreaks quickly. The Government is keen to accelerate international efforts to this end, working closely with the World Health Organization and through partnerships such as the Global Health Security Agenda. The Government sees the Commonwealth Health Ministers Meeting as an opportunity for the Commonwealth Secretariat to raise awareness of the importance of health system strengthening in the Commonwealth.
The Government will work with the Government of Sierra Leone and partners to seek a legacy of effective systems and structures that will contribute to improved future service delivery and infrastructure. This will ensure that should Sierra Leone be faced with a subsequent outbreak of Ebola or other disease, it is able to respond effectively.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will raise the issue of the ebola outbreak and the requirement for health system strengthening in the Commonwealth at the next meeting of Commonwealth Health Ministers.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The effect of the Ebola outbreak on Universal Health Coverage will be discussed at the next Commonwealth Health Ministers Meeting in May. Supporting countries to strengthen their health systems remains a top priority for the Government’s health work in West Africa and beyond.
The Government has met with the Commonwealth Foundation to discuss how civil society in Sierra Leone can be supported in tackling the Ebola crisis.
The Ebola outbreak has further demonstrated the importance of supporting countries to implement the International Health Regulations core capacities in order to detect and respond to outbreaks quickly. The Government is keen to accelerate international efforts to this end, working closely with the World Health Organization and through partnerships such as the Global Health Security Agenda. The Government sees the Commonwealth Health Ministers Meeting as an opportunity for the Commonwealth Secretariat to raise awareness of the importance of health system strengthening in the Commonwealth.
The Government will work with the Government of Sierra Leone and partners to seek a legacy of effective systems and structures that will contribute to improved future service delivery and infrastructure. This will ensure that should Sierra Leone be faced with a subsequent outbreak of Ebola or other disease, it is able to respond effectively.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the financial impact on families and the overall costs to the Exchequer of suicide; and what proportion of that impact is attributable to suicide by men.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Government does not collect figures on, or issue policy for, suicide prevention in the devolved administrations. However the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness Annual Report of July 2014 (NCI) included a table comparing suicide rates across the United Kingdom until 2012. The findings for the five years up to 2012 from that report are shown in the following table:
Suicide rates per 100,000 of population by UK country 2008-2012:
Country/Year | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
England | 10.1 | 9.4 | 9.4 | 9.5 | 9.4 |
Northern Ireland | 16.7 | 14.8 | 18.8 | 15.7 | 15.4 |
Scotland | 18.1 | 16.3 | 16.6 | 18.9* | 17.4* |
Wales | 11.3 | 10.5 | 11.2 | 11.7 | 12.8 |
Source: National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness Annual Report of July 2014.
Note: * Death coding rules changed in Scotland and rates for 2011 and 2012 are counted under these new rules. This means that overall numbers of suicides for these years are not directly comparable to previous years.
The NCI Annual Report of July 2014 also included tables on suicide rates by gender for each country of the UK. The figures for the five years up to 2012 from that report are shown in the following table:
Number of suicides in the general population, by gender:
Country, Gender/Year | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
England: |
|
|
|
|
|
Male | 3474 | 3300 | 3276 | 3402 | 3446 |
Female | 1147 | 1041 | 1092 | 1020 | 958 |
Total | 4621 | 4341 | 4368 | 4422 | 4404 |
Northern Ireland: |
|
|
|
|
|
Male | 203 | 173 | 229 | 185 | 190 |
Female | 55 | 58 | 66 | 62 | 54 |
Total | 258 | 231 | 295 | 247 | 244 |
Scotland: |
|
|
|
|
|
Male | 628 | 559 | 581 | 641 (552*) | 609 (554*) |
Female | 213 | 205 | 201 | 252 (217*) | 218 (195*) |
Total | 841 | 764 | 782 | 893 (769*) | 827 (749*) |
Wales: |
|
|
|
|
|
Male | 225 | 227 | 236 | 252 | 280 |
Female | 79 | 58 | 67 | 67 | 68 |
Total | 304 | 285 | 303 | 319 | 348 |
Source: National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness Annual Report of July 2014.
Note: * Indicates the number of suicides using the old death coding rules.
The NCI Annual Report of July 2014 included tables on suicide rates by certain age-groups for males in England and Scotland. The figures for the five years up to 2012 from that report are shown in the following tables:
Male suicide rates per 1000,000 population in those aged 25-34, 45-54 and 55-64 in England:
Age/Year | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
25-34 | 17.2 | 15.8 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 14.2 |
45-54 | 19.3 | 20.5 | 20.3 | 21.8 | 22.6 |
55-64 | 16.6 | 15.7 | 16.1 | 15.2 | 16.4 |
Source: National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness Annual Report of July 2014.
Male suicide rates per 1000,000 population in those aged 25-34, 45-54 and 65+ in Scotland:
Age/Year | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
25-34 | 45.4 | 32.5 | 33.6 | 42.1 | 34.7 |
45-54 | 29.5 | 31.4 | 36.9 | 33.5 | 37.4 |
65 + | 19.9 | 9.4 | 14.3 | 13.4 | 14.9 |
Source: National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness Annual Report of July 2014.
Over the past 10 years, good progress has been made in reducing the suicide rate in England. Three-year rolling averages are generally used for monitoring purposes, in preference to single year rates, in order to avoid undue attention to year on year fluctuations instead of the underlying trend.
Suicide rates in England are low compared to other European countries and have steadily reduced, with the lowest number ever recorded in 2007, but with a small rise since then. However, around 4,500 people took their own life in 2012 so suicide continues to be a major public health issue, particularly at a time of uncertainty.
Our suicide prevention strategy, Preventing suicide in England: A cross-government outcomes strategy to save lives published in September 2012 already recognises men, particularly young and middle-aged men, as being the highest risk group for suicide.
This message was reinforced in the first annual report on the Strategy, published in January 2014, which acknowledged that ‘men aged 35-54 years are now the group with the highest suicide rate. Understanding and addressing the factors associated with suicide in men, or working to limit their negative impact, will help to reduce population suicide risks’.
Further, at the time of the first annual report Professor Louis Appleby, Director of the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness, wrote to all Directors of Public Health and Health and Wellbeing Board leads to draw the report to their attention.
We published Preventing suicide in England: Assessment of impact on equalities alongside the suicide prevention strategy. The assessment acknowledges the duty of the public sector to advance equality and reduce inequality which was established by the Equality Act 2010. Recognition of the implications for the people sharing protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010 was an integral part of the process of developing the suicide prevention strategy.
We also published an Impact Assessment alongside the consultation on the suicide prevention strategy in July 2011. This assessment recommends that the financial benefits of the strategy for the ‘main affected groups’, will include savings from averted emergency treatment and the involvement of police and coroner at around £2 million for a ten-year period, at an opportunity cost of around £4 million. There are also large savings from reduction in fatalities - valuation of life – at around £7 billion. Although the Impact Assessment does not apportion any of these savings to specific impact groups, the strategy’s focus on ‘high-risk’ groups would specifically include the highest risk group, men in the 35-54 year age bracket.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of gender on suicide.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Government does not collect figures on, or issue policy for, suicide prevention in the devolved administrations. However the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness Annual Report of July 2014 (NCI) included a table comparing suicide rates across the United Kingdom until 2012. The findings for the five years up to 2012 from that report are shown in the following table:
Suicide rates per 100,000 of population by UK country 2008-2012:
Country/Year | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
England | 10.1 | 9.4 | 9.4 | 9.5 | 9.4 |
Northern Ireland | 16.7 | 14.8 | 18.8 | 15.7 | 15.4 |
Scotland | 18.1 | 16.3 | 16.6 | 18.9* | 17.4* |
Wales | 11.3 | 10.5 | 11.2 | 11.7 | 12.8 |
Source: National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness Annual Report of July 2014.
Note: * Death coding rules changed in Scotland and rates for 2011 and 2012 are counted under these new rules. This means that overall numbers of suicides for these years are not directly comparable to previous years.
The NCI Annual Report of July 2014 also included tables on suicide rates by gender for each country of the UK. The figures for the five years up to 2012 from that report are shown in the following table:
Number of suicides in the general population, by gender:
Country, Gender/Year | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
England: |
|
|
|
|
|
Male | 3474 | 3300 | 3276 | 3402 | 3446 |
Female | 1147 | 1041 | 1092 | 1020 | 958 |
Total | 4621 | 4341 | 4368 | 4422 | 4404 |
Northern Ireland: |
|
|
|
|
|
Male | 203 | 173 | 229 | 185 | 190 |
Female | 55 | 58 | 66 | 62 | 54 |
Total | 258 | 231 | 295 | 247 | 244 |
Scotland: |
|
|
|
|
|
Male | 628 | 559 | 581 | 641 (552*) | 609 (554*) |
Female | 213 | 205 | 201 | 252 (217*) | 218 (195*) |
Total | 841 | 764 | 782 | 893 (769*) | 827 (749*) |
Wales: |
|
|
|
|
|
Male | 225 | 227 | 236 | 252 | 280 |
Female | 79 | 58 | 67 | 67 | 68 |
Total | 304 | 285 | 303 | 319 | 348 |
Source: National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness Annual Report of July 2014.
Note: * Indicates the number of suicides using the old death coding rules.
The NCI Annual Report of July 2014 included tables on suicide rates by certain age-groups for males in England and Scotland. The figures for the five years up to 2012 from that report are shown in the following tables:
Male suicide rates per 1000,000 population in those aged 25-34, 45-54 and 55-64 in England:
Age/Year | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
25-34 | 17.2 | 15.8 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 14.2 |
45-54 | 19.3 | 20.5 | 20.3 | 21.8 | 22.6 |
55-64 | 16.6 | 15.7 | 16.1 | 15.2 | 16.4 |
Source: National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness Annual Report of July 2014.
Male suicide rates per 1000,000 population in those aged 25-34, 45-54 and 65+ in Scotland:
Age/Year | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
25-34 | 45.4 | 32.5 | 33.6 | 42.1 | 34.7 |
45-54 | 29.5 | 31.4 | 36.9 | 33.5 | 37.4 |
65 + | 19.9 | 9.4 | 14.3 | 13.4 | 14.9 |
Source: National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness Annual Report of July 2014.
Over the past 10 years, good progress has been made in reducing the suicide rate in England. Three-year rolling averages are generally used for monitoring purposes, in preference to single year rates, in order to avoid undue attention to year on year fluctuations instead of the underlying trend.
Suicide rates in England are low compared to other European countries and have steadily reduced, with the lowest number ever recorded in 2007, but with a small rise since then. However, around 4,500 people took their own life in 2012 so suicide continues to be a major public health issue, particularly at a time of uncertainty.
Our suicide prevention strategy, Preventing suicide in England: A cross-government outcomes strategy to save lives published in September 2012 already recognises men, particularly young and middle-aged men, as being the highest risk group for suicide.
This message was reinforced in the first annual report on the Strategy, published in January 2014, which acknowledged that ‘men aged 35-54 years are now the group with the highest suicide rate. Understanding and addressing the factors associated with suicide in men, or working to limit their negative impact, will help to reduce population suicide risks’.
Further, at the time of the first annual report Professor Louis Appleby, Director of the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness, wrote to all Directors of Public Health and Health and Wellbeing Board leads to draw the report to their attention.
We published Preventing suicide in England: Assessment of impact on equalities alongside the suicide prevention strategy. The assessment acknowledges the duty of the public sector to advance equality and reduce inequality which was established by the Equality Act 2010. Recognition of the implications for the people sharing protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010 was an integral part of the process of developing the suicide prevention strategy.
We also published an Impact Assessment alongside the consultation on the suicide prevention strategy in July 2011. This assessment recommends that the financial benefits of the strategy for the ‘main affected groups’, will include savings from averted emergency treatment and the involvement of police and coroner at around £2 million for a ten-year period, at an opportunity cost of around £4 million. There are also large savings from reduction in fatalities - valuation of life – at around £7 billion. Although the Impact Assessment does not apportion any of these savings to specific impact groups, the strategy’s focus on ‘high-risk’ groups would specifically include the highest risk group, men in the 35-54 year age bracket.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to introduce a gender-specific suicide reduction policy in the light of their statistics on the proportion of men among those committing suicide.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Government does not collect figures on, or issue policy for, suicide prevention in the devolved administrations. However the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness Annual Report of July 2014 (NCI) included a table comparing suicide rates across the United Kingdom until 2012. The findings for the five years up to 2012 from that report are shown in the following table:
Suicide rates per 100,000 of population by UK country 2008-2012:
Country/Year | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
England | 10.1 | 9.4 | 9.4 | 9.5 | 9.4 |
Northern Ireland | 16.7 | 14.8 | 18.8 | 15.7 | 15.4 |
Scotland | 18.1 | 16.3 | 16.6 | 18.9* | 17.4* |
Wales | 11.3 | 10.5 | 11.2 | 11.7 | 12.8 |
Source: National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness Annual Report of July 2014.
Note: * Death coding rules changed in Scotland and rates for 2011 and 2012 are counted under these new rules. This means that overall numbers of suicides for these years are not directly comparable to previous years.
The NCI Annual Report of July 2014 also included tables on suicide rates by gender for each country of the UK. The figures for the five years up to 2012 from that report are shown in the following table:
Number of suicides in the general population, by gender:
Country, Gender/Year | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
England: |
|
|
|
|
|
Male | 3474 | 3300 | 3276 | 3402 | 3446 |
Female | 1147 | 1041 | 1092 | 1020 | 958 |
Total | 4621 | 4341 | 4368 | 4422 | 4404 |
Northern Ireland: |
|
|
|
|
|
Male | 203 | 173 | 229 | 185 | 190 |
Female | 55 | 58 | 66 | 62 | 54 |
Total | 258 | 231 | 295 | 247 | 244 |
Scotland: |
|
|
|
|
|
Male | 628 | 559 | 581 | 641 (552*) | 609 (554*) |
Female | 213 | 205 | 201 | 252 (217*) | 218 (195*) |
Total | 841 | 764 | 782 | 893 (769*) | 827 (749*) |
Wales: |
|
|
|
|
|
Male | 225 | 227 | 236 | 252 | 280 |
Female | 79 | 58 | 67 | 67 | 68 |
Total | 304 | 285 | 303 | 319 | 348 |
Source: National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness Annual Report of July 2014.
Note: * Indicates the number of suicides using the old death coding rules.
The NCI Annual Report of July 2014 included tables on suicide rates by certain age-groups for males in England and Scotland. The figures for the five years up to 2012 from that report are shown in the following tables:
Male suicide rates per 1000,000 population in those aged 25-34, 45-54 and 55-64 in England:
Age/Year | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
25-34 | 17.2 | 15.8 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 14.2 |
45-54 | 19.3 | 20.5 | 20.3 | 21.8 | 22.6 |
55-64 | 16.6 | 15.7 | 16.1 | 15.2 | 16.4 |
Source: National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness Annual Report of July 2014.
Male suicide rates per 1000,000 population in those aged 25-34, 45-54 and 65+ in Scotland:
Age/Year | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
25-34 | 45.4 | 32.5 | 33.6 | 42.1 | 34.7 |
45-54 | 29.5 | 31.4 | 36.9 | 33.5 | 37.4 |
65 + | 19.9 | 9.4 | 14.3 | 13.4 | 14.9 |
Source: National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness Annual Report of July 2014.
Over the past 10 years, good progress has been made in reducing the suicide rate in England. Three-year rolling averages are generally used for monitoring purposes, in preference to single year rates, in order to avoid undue attention to year on year fluctuations instead of the underlying trend.
Suicide rates in England are low compared to other European countries and have steadily reduced, with the lowest number ever recorded in 2007, but with a small rise since then. However, around 4,500 people took their own life in 2012 so suicide continues to be a major public health issue, particularly at a time of uncertainty.
Our suicide prevention strategy, Preventing suicide in England: A cross-government outcomes strategy to save lives published in September 2012 already recognises men, particularly young and middle-aged men, as being the highest risk group for suicide.
This message was reinforced in the first annual report on the Strategy, published in January 2014, which acknowledged that ‘men aged 35-54 years are now the group with the highest suicide rate. Understanding and addressing the factors associated with suicide in men, or working to limit their negative impact, will help to reduce population suicide risks’.
Further, at the time of the first annual report Professor Louis Appleby, Director of the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness, wrote to all Directors of Public Health and Health and Wellbeing Board leads to draw the report to their attention.
We published Preventing suicide in England: Assessment of impact on equalities alongside the suicide prevention strategy. The assessment acknowledges the duty of the public sector to advance equality and reduce inequality which was established by the Equality Act 2010. Recognition of the implications for the people sharing protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010 was an integral part of the process of developing the suicide prevention strategy.
We also published an Impact Assessment alongside the consultation on the suicide prevention strategy in July 2011. This assessment recommends that the financial benefits of the strategy for the ‘main affected groups’, will include savings from averted emergency treatment and the involvement of police and coroner at around £2 million for a ten-year period, at an opportunity cost of around £4 million. There are also large savings from reduction in fatalities - valuation of life – at around £7 billion. Although the Impact Assessment does not apportion any of these savings to specific impact groups, the strategy’s focus on ‘high-risk’ groups would specifically include the highest risk group, men in the 35-54 year age bracket.