Maintain pressure on reforms to protect NHSSuicide prevention plan to take recession into account
A Welsh suicide prevention plan has been updated to take account of the recession and the increased risk of people killing themselves if they lose their jobs, the Welsh Assembly has said.
First unveiled last November, the plan - called Talk to Me - is intended to encourage people to open up if they feel distressed.
Nearly 2,000 frontline public services staff have had mental health first aid training to help them spot signs of mental health problems.
Some 900 carers have had special training to intervene when someone is thought to be a suicide risk.
Chief medical officer Dr Tony Jewell said: “The action plan aims to promote improved mental health and wellbeing by encouraging people to talk more about their personal difficulties and get help quickly when they need it.
Between 1996 and 2006 around 300 people committed suicide in Wales - more than those killed in road accidents.
The Welsh Assembly wants to cut suicides by 10 per cent by 2012, but Dr Jewell said the suicide rate was “not moving in the right direction”.
He said his annual report, expected before Christmas, will contain a chapter on the Bridgend county borough cluster.
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