Suicide bereavement services

Around 6,000 people die by suicide each year across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Each death can cause intense grief and emotional distress for friends, family and the wider community.

The evidence suggests that people who are bereaved by suicide can themselves be at higher risk.

But, often, local areas don’t offer bereavement support or the provision patchy and inadequate.

We want policy-makers to make sure every person bereaved by suicide can get the help they need when they need it.

Policy-makers should:

• Ensure national suicide prevention strategies prioritise support for people bereaved by suicide, including plans for cross-government working and improved local commissioning.
• Set out quality standards for suicide bereavement services to improve consistency and ensure people are getting the most effective support available.
• Improve data collection on suicides, including putting in place real-time surveillance, so that professionals can quickly identify, and support people bereaved by suicide.
• Roll out suicide bereavement training for frontline professionals, including coroners’ offices, the police, health and social care services, funeral directors and faith organisations, to improve the number of people signposted to support and help.

Read more in our policy briefing below.