Suicide prevention training for hospital staff to save lives

Published Friday, 15 July, 2016 at 10:44 AM

Minister for Health and Minister for Ambulance Services
The Honourable Cameron Dick

Life-saving suicide prevention training for frontline staff is underway in hospital and health services across Queensland as part of the Palaszczuk Government’s commitment to improving capacity for the system to respond to suicide.

Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Cameron Dick said emergency department nurses and other frontline acute mental health care staff throughout Queensland were undertaking special suicide risk identification training.

The training follows the advocacy of Kerrie Keepa, who lost her son to suicide, and will continue roll out this financial year as part of the Palaszczuk Government’s recent $9.6 million commitment over three years – the single biggest financial commitment ever made by a Queensland Government specifically focused on suicide prevention.

“Shortly after I became Health Minister, I met Kerrie Keepa, who after suffering tragedy in her life, was seeking to make meaningful change with better suicide‑prevention training for staff in our emergency departments,” he said.

“Frontline staff across the state are now being trained in recognising, responding to, and caring for people who present to hospital and health services with a suicide risk.

“This program is building the capacity of the health system to prevent suicide incidents wherever possible.”

Ms Keepa commended the government for answering her call to action. 

“This training is a fantastic initiative that is vital to prevent other families in our community from experiencing tragedy and it absolutely will save lives,” she said.

“I understand this initiative has already been well received and frontline staff are recognising its value when applying it to their work, which makes it even more attractive to the thousands more soon to be trained.”

As of June 30 this year, 148 clinicians have been trained in this train-the-trainer program, with another nine clinicians from the Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service expected to be trained in September.

“As this initiative extends its reach, about 5000 health staff on the frontline at our hospitals across the state will be primed to better respond to potential suicide cases, and, ultimately, help prevent them occurring,” Mr Dick said.

Princess Alexandra Hospital emergency department nurse, Emily Cooper, who has undergone the training, said it delivers the tools to structure questions more appropriately to lead to an understanding of suicide risk for each person.

“It is a very confronting question to ask if someone is considering suicide, so this is a more structured approach to identify people who are at risk of suicide,” she said.

“Appropriate questioning is the key to this life or death conversation.”

Mr Dick said the Queensland rate of suicide had been reasonably stable but consistently higher than the national average over the past decade, with more than 600 Queenslanders taking their own lives each year.

“Our government’s My health, Queensland’s future: Advancing health 2016-2026 strategic plan highlights reducing the rate of suicide deaths in Queensland by 50 per cent as a key priority, and we are determined to achieve this,” he said.

“What we know is that about a quarter of people who have died by suspected suicide had contact with a Queensland Health service within seven days before their death.

“Research also indicates that a significant proportion of people who die by suicide had recent contact with a primary healthcare provider prior to their death.

“Staff in hospital emergency departments are particularly well-placed to recognise and intervene with suicidal people.

“This initiative is about building capacity of frontline staff within our hospital and health services and our partner primary healthcare providers – even if they are not mental health professionals – to recognise and respond to people at risk of suicide.”

The training is part of a raft of initiatives the Palaszczuk Government is implementing to address suicide in Queensland.

The government’s latest budget investment of a $9.6 million Suicide Prevention in Health Services Initiative comprises three major components:

  • The establishment and operation over three years of a Queensland Suicide Prevention Health Taskforce as a partnership between the Department of Health, Hospital and Health Services and Primary Health Networks.
  • Analysis of events relating to deaths by suspected suicide of people that had a recent contact with a health service to inform future actions and improvements in responses.
  • Continue implementing suicide prevention training for hospital emergency department staff and other frontline acute mental health care staff.

This investment comes in addition to last September’s release of the Queensland Suicide Prevention Action Plan, developed by the Queensland Mental Health Commission - the first Queensland Government plan to address suicide released in more than seven years.

The plan outlines 42 actions across government to improve responses to people at risk of suicide and to support families, communities, service providers and first responders impacted by suicide.

The Palaszczuk Government has also entered into a $1 million partnership with the QRL and NRL to help deliver suicide prevention within grassroots rugby league clubs.

ENDS

MEDIA CONTACT:   Anika Hume 0439 253 815