Wakefield Council supports time to talk campaign

The camapign by West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership (WY&H HCP) will target more than 100,000 health, care, voluntary and community service colleagues working in organisations large and small across the area.

Launching on February 4 - ‘Time to Talk’ day - the campaign aims to get people in the workplace talking about mental health to prevent the risk of suicide.

Preventing suicide in targeted areas by 2022 is one of WY&H HCP’s 10 big ambitions.

National figures published by the Office of National Statistics on September 1 last year show that Yorkshire and the Humber region had the highest suicide rate in England at 12 suicides per 100,000 population over a three year period between 2017 and 2019.

In West Yorkshire and Harrogate, there was an increase from 10.6 per 100,000 between 2016-18 to 11.9 between 2017 and 2019.

Coun Faith Heptinstall, Wakefield Council’s Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing, said: “Suicide affects us all. Every life lost represents someone’s partner, child, friend or colleague, and their death profoundly affects people in their family, workplace, club and community and that’s why we are proud to support this campaign."

CounJessica Carrington, Wakefield Council’s Mental Health Champion, said: “It’s important to offer training and awareness to our residents, so that those at a time of ultimate loss of hope have someone to turn to, who can help and support them to see that suicide is not the answer.”

WY&H HCP’s 'Check-in' campaign aims to prevent staff suicide and promote a wellbeing culture by normalising the conversation around suicide and mental health as well as providing training, including links to credible sources such as the Zero Suicide Alliance, and signposting to support in and out the workplace.

The campaign, co-produced with people who have direct experience of suicide, has been created by staff coming together from NHS services, councils, Healthwatch and community groups, including the Samaritans and Platform 1 in Huddersfield.

WY&H HCP has secured funding from NHS England/NHS Improvement to the end of March 2022 of more than £1million to develop and maintain a Mental Health and Wellbeing Hub for all staff working in health and care services in West Yorkshire and Harrogate. The campaign will link to this important support.

Open to all, join the campaign now at https://bit.ly/2Nh0wfr or find out more about this important work at staffcheck-in.co.uk/toolkit from 4 February 2021.