Our Partnership is made up of organisations working closely together to plan services and address the challenges facing health and care services across the area.
In this section you will find links to useful information and publications about our partnership.
We are committed to meaningful conversations with people, on the right issues at the right time. We believe this is an important part of the way we work.
Engagement gives people an opportunity to have their say on services. By gathering people's views, it helps us understand what matters to people.
In this section you will find all Freedom of Information (FOI) requests made to our Partnership. You can also ask a question of your own.
National figures published by the Office of National Statistics on 1 September 2020 show that Yorkshire and the Humber region had the highest suicide rate in England at 12 suicides per 100,00 population over a three year period between 2017 and 2019. In West Yorkshire and Harrogate, there has been an increase from 10.6 per 100,000 between 2016-18 to 11.88 between 2017 and 2019.
The Partnership has been working hard to reduce suicide and the devastating impact on families, carers and friends across West Yorkshire and Harrogate since 2016/17 and has stated its aims in the Mental Health, Learning Disability and Autism Five Year Plan.
The main aim of the WY&H HCP Suicide Prevention Strategy is to develop working relationships with partner agencies to provide an evidence based, practical framework for suicide prevention across the area to reduce suicide. This supports and complements the work taking place in the six local places (Bradford district and Craven; Calderdale, Harrogate, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield). The most important part of this collaboration is the view that suicide can be prevented. It should no longer be seen as an inevitable outcome for people, but as something we can work together to successfully avoid. It is not a foregone conclusion for anybody and there is always the hope that things will improve.
Earlier this year the Partnership secured more than £1.5 m in funding from NHS England/NHS Improvement to reduce the numbers of suicide across the area over the next three years.
The funds will focus on two key areas:
The additional funds will be a huge help in reaching the ambitions of WY&H HCP which is all about saving people’s lives.
Our West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership Suicide Prevention Advisory Network (SPAN) Annual Review 2019-2020 and Annual Plan 2020-2021 is now available. This report provides a review of the previous year’s developments (2019/2020) and outlines our proposed work plan for the coming year 2020/2021.
The Great Minds project is part of the Partnership’s broader suicide prevention work. It is being carried out in partnership with State of Mind Sport. We will also be working closely with a variety of clubs across WY&H including super-league and smaller community clubs.
Established in 2011, State of Mind Sport is a charity that harnesses the power of sport to promote positive mental health among sportsmen and women, fans and wider communities, and ultimately to prevent suicide.
The charity delivers education on the subject to all levels of sport, business, education and community groups, and signposts people to where they can receive care and support in their area.
Our project is a set of workshops aimed at men and helping them work through various mental health issues that challenge their equilibrium. It will link into the national and local public health initiatives that are directly concerned with suicide prevention specifically for men.
The project aims to work alongside public health leads to help them provide an alternative support in the six places of the ICS, reaching out to the most vulnerable via social media and direct contact with sporting groups, clubs and communities.
The Great Minds project will deliver initial sessions online covering basic mental fitness, stress management, building resilience, exploring emotional intelligence, problem solving and anger management. Former professional and successful, recognisable sportspeople will use their own lived experience in sport to illustrate and harness the best evidence base interventions to help men to manage and improve their mental fitness.
You can find the suicide prevention strategy here. We have also produced an infographic summarising the strategy.
Our Suicide Prevention Annual Report for 2018 is here.
People bereaved by suicide or those affected by suicide can now access support from a new service spanning the region.
The West Yorkshire and Harrogate Suicide Bereavement Service provides support through one to one peer support, peer support groups and advocacy.
The service was developed because people bereaved by suicide are more likely to suffer from severe depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, or even adopt suicidal behaviours themselves.
Support on offer, which will enhance suicide bereavement support services across the region, will include practical advice and signposting to other much needed services, for example counselling or financial advice.
The service is open to all, irrespective of a coroner’s conclusion and people will be able to self-refer or be referred by funeral directors, police, coroners, or NHS staff across West Yorkshire and Harrogate.
Additional support will also be available to staff affected by suicide in the course of their duties; for example health, social care or emergency service staff. Help will also be available to people who have been bereaved historically yet feel they may benefit from peer led support.
The new service is an extension of the Leeds Suicide Bereavement Service and is central to West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership’s plan to improve bereavement support, while it works to reduce the numbers of suicides too. You can read our 5 Year Suicide Prevention Strategy.
We’ve also produced an infograph summarising the strategy.
Yorkshire and Humber has one of the highest suicide rates in the country. West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership is driving a collaborative approach to reduce suicide and improve services. It is working towards reducing suicide by 10% across the region and by 75% in targeted areas.
Referrals can be made by visiting www.wyhsbs.org.uk or by calling 0113 305 5800. Practitioners will be based in Bradford, Harrogate, Huddersfield and Leeds but meeting locations will be flexible.
People bereaved by suicide in Leeds are also able to access the linked Leeds Suicide Bereavement Service, funded by Leeds City Council. Referrals can be made by visiting www.LeedsSBS.org.uk or by calling 0113 305 5803. Leeds drop in group is first Tuesday of every month, Civic Hall in Leeds City Centre, 6-8pm.
