NSPA responds to government’s suicide prevention strategy 2023-2028  

It’s a really important day today (11 September 2023) as we welcome the long-awaited publication of the government’s new national suicide prevention strategy 2023 – 2028 for England.  

A crucial principle in the strategy, and one which we’ve pushed for is the involvement of people with lived experience, their voices, perspectives and insights as essential for all suicide prevention work and at all levels. It’s great to see this central within the strategy and we’ll be working with our Lived Experience Network to try and ensure that this principle is embedded in practice, in a meaningful way across the country.   

Alongside this is the principle that nobody should be left out of suicide prevention efforts and the importance of responding to the needs of marginalised communities and those communities who have not always been heard in suicide prevention. Many in our Lived Experience Network have been advocating for this and stand ready to help. 

The strategy provides a mix of targeted action on risk factors and for priority groups, whilst also recognising that “suicide prevention is everybody’s business”. The NSPA has long believed this, with our wide and varied cross-sector membership and we are pleased to see it prioritised today.    

But, a strategy alone is not enough.  We would like to see greater ambition for a longer-term reduction in the number of suicides, clear measures to monitor progress, a clear road map for effective implementation and the resources to support this.      

We worked with our members to ensure their voices were heard as the strategy was being developed and we will continue to do this as it starts to be delivered.   Over the next few months, we will be running a series of online discussions to understand what the strategy means in practice and what support our members believe is needed for delivery.   Join us and help ensure the strategy makes a real difference and saves lives.