Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:20 pm on 6 October 2021.
Thank you, Janet, for that. I'd be very happy to meet with the individual that you mention, but I should re-emphasise that we are not, thankfully, seeing a rise in suicide rates at the moment. It is very important that all of us are really responsible in the language that we use about suicide, because when we talk about rates, people say things like, 'Rates going through the roof', and what have you. Vulnerable people hear that and it can influence their behaviour.
We are putting in place real-time surveillance so that we are aware, without having to wait for inquests, of the actual suicide rate on an ongoing basis. And what that also means is that we can immediately provide support to the families and others bereaved by suicide. You're absolutely right about the impact of suicide; it devastates families, friends and whole communities. What we are looking to do—and I'm confident we're making progress in that—is put in place a post-suicide bereavement pathway for everyone affected by suicide.
Turning, then, to mental health services during the pandemic, as Members know, they have remained accessible during the pandemic, but waiting times to access support have been affected and some targets have not been met. We acknowledge that waiting times across Wales, especially for children and young people, are a challenge, but one I can assure Members I am determined to address as a matter of urgency.
However, changing targets or creating new ones is not the answer here. In my regular contact with health boards, I am pressing them on my plans to address waiting times, and have gone further when I have felt the situation is more serious, while recognising that this is not something that can be resolved overnight. And, as I've already said, we've invested heavily in our tier 0 open access support. At the same time, I am determined to progress our early intervention and prevention whole-system approach for children and adults, to ensure that everyone can access the right support at the right time. This will only help service pressures and waiting times to reduce.
We are making good progress to improve crisis care, and I'll provide more information on this in my statement next week. I can reiterate our commitment to have all-age 24/7 mental health single points of contact available in each health board area by April 2022. However, the NHS response is only one element of a wider cross-Government and multi-agency response that is needed. As John Griffiths said in his contribution, mental health is everybody's business.
I fully understand that having the right workforce in place is crucial, and our mental health delivery plan includes this as an underpinning aim. As well as expanding the workforce, we also need the right mix of professionals able to provide mental health support. Health Education and Improvement Wales and Social Care Wales are making good progress in developing a transformative, longer term workforce vision and plan for mental health and social care in Wales.
We know that the pandemic has had a huge impact on our whole NHS workforce, so as well as the forward planning work that HEIW are undertaking, I'm also looking at what further we can do now to strengthen our existing workforce in the light of the current workforce pressures and our forecast increasing mental health demand. I will say more about that to the Chamber in due course.