By Every Doncaster GP has pledged to mark World Suicide Prevention Day by supporting Doncaster Council’s suicide prevention strategy, and making Suicide Prevention training available.
World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) is marked on 10th September each year. Co-sponsored by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the day is organized by the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP). The purpose of this day is to raise awareness around the globe that suicide can be prevented.
Each year, the theme is chosen internationally. The 2019 theme is “Working Together to Prevent Suicide”. This highlights the most essential ingredient for effective global suicide prevention.
So it is highly appropriate that every local GP Practice and NHS Doncaster Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) have pledged to work together in a practical way on this. All 40 GP Practices across the area have pledged to complete some Prevention Training which takes only 20 minutes but could save a life.
This training has been produced by the Zero Suicide Alliance (ZSA). The alliance’s main focus is on improving support for people contemplating suicide by raising awareness of and promoting free suicide prevention training. The training is available to everyone, including the public, and teaches how to recognise the warning signs and safeguard someone that could be contemplating suicide.
Dr David Crichton, local GP and Clinical Chair, NHS Doncaster CCG said:
The fact that 100% of our GP Practices across Doncaster have pledged to support World Suicide Prevention Day shows how important this subject is and the commitment to make things better. Being able to talk to another person when you need support, as well as identifying risks factors for suicide early will ultimately help us save lives.
The aims of the online training are to:
- Enable people to identify when someone is presenting with suicidal thoughts/behaviour
- Help people speak out in a supportive manner
- And to empower people to signpost an individual to the correct services or support.
Dr Rupert Suckling, Director of Public Health Doncaster said:
Suicide is the commonest cause of death in young adults with many more of us experiencing occasional suicidal thoughts. Despite this, suicide is often a topic that many of us feel uncomfortable talking about and we would like to change that. We believe that all suicides are preventable. The Public Health team has worked in partnership with primary care Doncaster to deliver this campaign into the heart of local communities.
Follow this link for further information about the free Prevention Training
If you feel at risk yourself and wish to contact someone please get in touch with The Samaritans
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