New approach needed to halt rise in suicides in the Highlands
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THE key to tackling the Highlands’ shocking suicide rate could lie on the other side of the Atlantic, according to an Inverness councillor.
Inverness South member Duncan Macpherson has suggested NHS Highland should look at an approach which has had a huge impact in the American city of Detroit.
The Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) – a clinic which saw 74,000 patients in 2015 – takes a “zero tolerance” approach to suicide, screening all patients who visit it for whatever reason and then targeting them for tailored mental health support if they are deemed at risk of suicide.
Cllr Macpherson suggested at a recent council meeting attended by NHS Highland chief executive Iain Stewart that a similar approach might work here. The suicide rate in the Highlands stands at 18 per 100,000 people, higher than the Scottish average of 14.5 per 100,000.
Earlier this month, the Courier reported how Craig Sutherland (30), from Inverness, had taken his own life after struggling with depression and being told he faced a 15-month wait for specialist help.
Cllr Macpherson said: “Looking at health patterns throughout the Highlands, if we had concerns that our biggest source of health problems came from heart attack or stroke or cancer or HIV or AIDS, or even diabetes, we would focus our attention on that particular cause of death.
“The biggest cause of death in the Highlands, particularly for men under the age of 45, is suicide. That’s our number one killer.”
He said deaths in Detroit from suicide had dropped from 89 per 100,000 people down to 16 per 100,000 over 12 years and had now dropped to zero because they had “perfect depression care”.
See today's Courier for full story.
