You Said, We Did - Tameside Suicide Prevention Strategy Consultation

Q1  25 responses

Talking openly and frankly about suicide can help people feel listened to and supported. It can also give the opportunity for people to find help through conversations. To what extent do you agree/disagree with the following statement? “I feel able to talk openly about suicide with friends and family”

Q2 5 responses

If you answered disagree or strongly disagree, please tell us why:

Q3 22 responses

If you were having suicidal thoughts and needed help, or wanted to help someone who was, where/who would you turn to for support first?

64% agreed or strongly agreed; 20% neutral, 4% strongly disagreed.

Of those that disagreed, people said they didn’t know what words to use or what to do.

45% said they would go to a friend/family.

Within 2025 action plan are actions to tackle negative reporting about suicide in press; share details of relevant training programmes that help people to easily talk more easily about suicide; deliver the Baton of Hope event in September 2025; promote language guide for talking about suicide

Q4 21 responses

If you knew someone who was bereaved by suicide, what might help you feel able to have a conversation with them about their grief, or the person they lost? Please select all that apply.

67% would get advice from people with lived experience of bereavement by suicide; 52% wanted information about local services.

We have included promotion of the GM bereavement service; the use of people’s stories; and listening to SoBS (Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide) in the 2025 communications plan, which sets out how best to share relevant information with local residents.

Q5 13 responses

The priority themes in the strategy are;

• Get support where it’s needed most
• Provide more opportunities for people to connect with and find support in their communities
• Foster a mental health aware community
• Ensure a safer Tameside for those in crisis
• Develop financial wellbeing in the Tameside population
• Work together to effectively support people
• Promote Trauma awareness and nurture protective factors

Please give your suggestions for any themes you feel are missing.

The most common answer given related to specialised support (46%), which included a range of issues such as:
Practical support for people bereaved by suicide; specific support for people living with e.g. mental health issues, menopause; bereavement; stronger links to local groups; better access to CAHMS.

The next most common response related to mental health (38%): improved access and waiting times for relevant services, including for autistic people.

Within 2025 action plan are actions to improve links to communities more at risk of suicide, which would enable better access to information about support available both from services and within local communities. 

See response to Q4 regarding bereavement services.

Mental health services are outside the scope of this strategy, but comments have been passed on the NHS Mental Health Commissioner, who also sits on the Suicide Prevention Partnership.