Federation welcomes new suicide prevention support

9 May 2022

The Police Federation has welcomed the development of procedures to enable more timely and targeted support to be offered to people in the immediate aftermath of a suicide.

In the UK, an unexpected death cannot be officially recorded as a suicide until after a coroner’s inquest and this can make it difficult for appropriate support to be offered to family, friends and colleagues.

Thankfully, this is now changing in Wales thanks to the launch, in April, of the Real Time Suicide Surveillance (RTSS) scheme which collates information relating to those unexplained deaths where suicide is suspected and bridges the gap in the official legal process.

It has been developed by a partnership of the Police Liaison Unit at Welsh Government, the four Welsh police services, Public Health Wales, and the NHS Wales Health Collaborative, and the Federation believes it will make a real difference.

Nicky Ryan, the Welsh lead for the Police Federation of England and Wales, explains: “Research suggests that for every death by suicide up to 135 other people can be exposed, affected or bereaved, and may require support. If that person is a police officer that loss will be acutely felt by their immediate colleagues and can impact on mental wellbeing across the Force.

“The RTSS initiative will help improve understanding of the support needs across the population and encourage partnership working locally to provide support more quickly to those directly affected.

“I would also like to recognise the fact that the four Welsh Chief Constables have signed an agreement to share information with Public Health Wales. This commitment has moved the work forward within a very short time.”

Funding for the RTSS will come from a £50 million fund from the Welsh Government intended to improve mental health and wellbeing and enhance bereavement support.

This year’s Police Federation annual national conference will include a break-out session on suicide prevention. National Board members Belinda Goodwin and Craig Trow will lead that session at the conference which is being held in Manchester next week.

Belinda, who is the national Federation wellbeing lead, said: “Each tragic case of suicide is devastating for a family and a community and policing is no different.

“We know the pressures of the job and how it can become too much sometimes. We launched the ‘Man-Up, Man-Down’ campaign to encourage officers to speak up if they are struggling and I welcome this additional initiative to prevent further tragedy and support all those affected. Policing is a family and it is vital we look after one another.”