NHS South Yorkshire has become the first NHS organisation to officially sign up to the Baton of Hope's Workplace Pledge, which has been designed to improve knowledge and training in relation to suicide prevention.
The hope is that the Pledge will remove and eradicate the stigma around mental health in the workplace, increase awareness of suicide and help employers take better care of their employees.
Clinical trustee and lead on the Workplace Pledge Ben Wilson said:
“All employers have a duty of care to do their utmost to improve and save lives of their staff. This unique initiative offers all employers of any size the tips, tools and resources to really make a difference and stand up to suicide. Our online and face to face training has been developed, externally validated, and is certified. All of our pledge work has been developed and is supported by clinicians, HR leaders and individuals with lived experience.”
Gavin Boyle, Chief Executive at NHS South Yorkshire said:
“NHS South Yorkshire has signed up to the Baton of Hope Workplace Pledge with a hope to eradicate the stigma around mental health in the workplace and increasing awareness of suicide. If we don’t talk about suicide we can isolate those who are struggling leaving them to bear an unimaginable burden alone. The reality is that talking about suicide does not plant the idea in someone’s mind. On the contrary, open conversations can provide relief, connection and hope.
“In the UK there are 6,000 deaths by suicide annually and acute mental health conditions account for over 55% of all lost working days annually in the UK. By supporting the pledge NHS South Yorkshire is committed to open conversations to increase awareness, improve and do our best to save lives and make support and prevention in the workplace a priority.”
The Workplace Pledge is the brainchild of The Baton of Hope UK which has spent more than two years developing the scheme.