Suicide prevention in England: 5-year cross-sector strategy

Considerable progress has been made since the last Suicide prevention strategy for England (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/suicide-prevention-strategy-forengland) was published in 2012. All areas of the country now have local suicide prevention plans and suicide bereavement services, supported by a £57 million investment through the NHS Long Term Plan (https://www.longtermplan.nhs.uk/). We have seen one of the lowest ever suicide rates (in 2017) and collective efforts to improve patient safety led to a35% fall in suicides in mental health inpatient settings (https://sites.manchester.ac.uk/ncish/reports/annual-report-2023/) in England between2010 and 2020. This strategy sets out over 100 actions led by government departments, the NHS, the voluntary sector and other national partners to make progress against these areas, particularly over the next 2 years. We will continue to review and develop actions to make further progress throughout the timeframe of this strategy. A summary of actions has been published alongside this strategy (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/suicideprevention-strategy-for-england-2023-to-2028).