Sutton Council wants to reduce the number of suicides in its area by 10 per cent in the next three years.

This week, the council released its Suicide Prevention Strategy.

It states that suicide rates in the borough have been decreasing since 2010 in contrast to the London-wide figures, where there has been a rise.

The strategy shows that in Sutton, three out of four suicides occur in men – a statistic which is ‘consistent with national percentages’.

From April 2010 to November 2017, there were 35 suicides confirmed by the Coroner’s Office.

There were also 31 deaths during that period where an open verdict was recorded – of these, 19 are indicated as potential suicides.

The report also includes data from the Network Rail Suicide Prevention Team.

It states that from  April 2015 to November 2017, there were 14 interventions carried out by Network Rail staff at the Brighton Road Overbridge, Carshalton, Cheam, Hackbridge, St Helier, Sutton, Sutton Common and Wallington Stations.

A table in the report shows that the suicide rate in Sutton is 6.7 in 100,000 people.

This compares to 8 per 100,000 in Croydon and 9 per 100,000 in Merton.

But of the three boroughs, Sutton had the highest rate of emergency hospital admissions for people who had self harmed.

The recorded rate in 2015/16 was 193 per 100,000 compared with 95 in Merton and 115 in Croydon.

Training for GPs is one aspect that needs to be developed, the paper adds, as well as mental health awareness in schools.

It states: “[We need to develop] suitable support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals with focus on LGBT young people, particularly those who are also from black, asian and minority ethnic groups.”

The report is due to be discussed at a Health and Wellbeing Board meeting on Monday, June 25, at Sutton Civic Offices in St Nicholas Way.

A list of local and national services set up to help can be found here.