This House of Lords Library Briefing provides information on suicide prevention in the UK to mark World Mental Health Day on 10 October 2019.
Suicide in the UK: Statistics and Prevention Strategies (307 KB , PDF)
World Mental Health Day takes place on 10 October each year. The overall aim is to raise awareness of mental health issues and to encourage efforts to support mental health. The theme for 2019 is “working together to prevent suicide—a day for ‘40 seconds of action’”. This refers to World Health Organisation estimates that every 40 seconds someone loses their life to suicide.
This briefing provides information on: the prevalence of suicide in the UK; key statistics and analysis; and suicide prevention strategies.
Suicide in the UK: Statistics and Prevention Strategies (307 KB , PDF)
In 2024, the House of Lords established a committee to consider the prevention and consequences of preterm birth in England. This briefing provides a summary of the House of Lords Preterm Birth Committee's finding, reactions to its report, and the government’s response, ahead of a debate in the House of Lords on 6 June 2025.
The House of Lords is due to discuss NHS staff access to single-sex spaces on 1 May 2025. Following a recent Supreme Court judgment about the meaning of the term ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010, the Equality and Human Rights Commission issued an interim update on 25 April 2025 about the implications of this for workplaces and services provided to the public.
In England, the NHS provides prosthetics where suitable for people who have had a limb amputation. However, concerns have been raised about how quickly individuals can access multifunctional limbs. Also, while high-performance sports prosthetics are available for children, some campaigners are calling for adults to be able to access them from the NHS.
