Sarah Olney reports that for the past year she has been working alongside local suicide prevention campaigner, Philip Pirie, to push the government to launch a public health campaign to tackle the stigma towards suicide. They have been collecting signatures for an open letter to the Prime Minister to call on him to make tackling stigma a priority. Former Health Secretaries Sir Sajid Javid and Sir Jeremy Hunt have actively supported the call, alongside the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the Royal College of General Practitioners, suicide prevention charities and over 40 MPs.

Last year, Philip co-chaired a group which produced new NHS Guidance published as ‘Staying Safe from Suicide’, which reformed how practitioners should assess someone’s risk of suicide. Over 80% of people who die by suicide are assessed as being ‘low’ or ‘no risk’ before they die, and the guidance sought to change practice to ensure mental health practitioners adopt a holistic approach towards understanding someone’s thoughts and possible ideations.

Mental health professionals work long hours and have extremely difficult jobs. Sarah states that the Department for Health and Social Care should be doing more to ensure practitioners have the most up to date training on new guidance.

A year after the guidance was released, it was revealed that less than 10% of mental health practitioners had undertaken the training on suicide prevention. Officials say it is easier to roll out compulsory training on equality and diversity.

There is another dimension to this. All health service staff are vulnerable to the pressures of persistent understaffing and long hours and complex patient demands. Suicide rates among staff are higher than the national average, so it must follow that more attention should be paid to their mental health. That makes it difficult to understand why so few have taken the training. Is it time restraints or is there a reluctance to admit to such problems because of the stigma which is regrettably still attached?

Other sources

Sarah Olney’s speech on 19 November 2025 in a Committee Debate in Westminster Hall. YouTube: Stigma of Suicide.

BS 30480 provides a comprehensive framework for workplaces to prevent suicide, intervene effectively, and support recovery for employees affected by suicide. Published by the British Standards Institution in 2025, it is the UK’s first standard dedicated to suicide awareness in the workplace. It offers free, evidence-based guidance for organizations of all sizes and sectors, including public bodies, charities, and commercial enterprises, to create safer, psychologically healthy work environments and embed suicide prevention into organizational culture.

Daddy Blackbird – Surviving and thriving after loss by suicide