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.
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.
Mental health providers, ambulance, police and fire services, local councils, prison services and voluntary community organisations have come together to make a real difference through what is an ambitious but practical strategy to tacking suicide. The plan sets out how we will work together to reduce suicide by 10% across the West Yorkshire and Harrogate area, and by 75% in targeted areas.
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.
This new way of working is all about creating a culture where everyone can talk about their mental health without fear, embarrassment or judgement; and where everyone comes together to support people so that suicide is prevented.It is important that everyone understands that suicide is not a terminal prognosis or inevitable and can always be prevented.
In England nearly 100 people a week die by suicide. In 2015 the Yorkshire and Humber region had the highest suicide rate in England. It is the biggest killer of people under the age of 35 and the biggest killer of men under the age of 50, tearing families apart and leaving a devastating, lasting impact on many people’s lives.
The plan sets out how those at risk will be identified sooner rather than later - and before it’s too late.It includes plans to develop a real time system to identify apparent suicides, as well as a high risk decision making tool to help GPs, social workers, commissioners, and those working in communities work better together. It also sets out how technology can help through the development of an innovative suicide prevention phone app, will improve suicide bereavement services, and provide better care for children, young people and adults at risk of self-harm and suicide.
This new approach of bringing agencies together to work collaboratively has already achieved dramatic results internationally and will encourage a culture change across West Yorkshire and Harrogate in the way we view and treat suicide. It will provide coordinated support to local people and aim to reduce the number of suicides significantly.
Pathfinder Development workers have been working with services within the six West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership places to identify support groups for men that are most at risk of suicide and self-harm.
Our Pathfinder Development workers have teamed up with State of Mind Sport to work alongside their teams and, working alongside public health leads, deliver comprehensive education sessions in workshop format to men in our six places of Bradford district and Craven; Kirklees; Wakefield; Calderdale; Harrogate and Leeds.
The presenters include sportspeople with lived experience who will share their stories and the coping strategies that they have used when faced with life changing events such as mental health challenges, bereavement through suicide, mental fitness challenges and other mental health conditions that have affected their wellbeing.
For more information about Great Minds email swy-tr.greatminds@nhs.net, watch our video and read more here.
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.
