Samaritans inputted in the drafting of the standard, covering guidelines for preventing suicide in community and custodial settings, as well as helping people bereaved or affected by suicide.
The standard includes 5 priority areas for improvement. These are covered in the following statements:
Statement 1 Multi-agency suicide prevention partnerships have a strategic suicide prevention group and clear governance and accountability structures.
Statement 2 Multi-agency suicide prevention partnerships reduce access to methods of suicide based on local information.
Statement 3 Multi-agency suicide prevention partnerships have a local media plan that identifies how they will encourage journalists and editors to follow best practice when reporting on suicide and suicidal behaviour.
Statement 4 Adults presenting with suicidal thoughts or plans discuss whether they would like their family, carers or friends to be involved in their care and are made aware of the limits of confidentiality.
Statement 5 People bereaved or affected by a suspected suicide are given information and offered tailored support.
Focus on quality statement 3: media reporting
We were really pleased that quality statement 3 specifically recommends suicide prevention partnerships working with organisations such as Samaritans to give feedback to local journalists and editors reporting on suicide and suicidal behaviour.
We are keen to work with local areas to share our knowledge and experience on the most effective ways of engaging media reporting on suicide. We want this best practice to inform how local areas deal with media, and to ensure consistency across the country.
Samaritans is pleased to support this important standard which we are confident will lead to improvements in the help provided to people at risk of suicide and families who have been bereaved
Jacqui Morrissey, Assistant Director of Research and Influencing