HEALTH bosses in Leeds are being urged to back a campaign aimed at cutting suicide rates.

MP Greg Mulholland (Lib Dem, Leeds North West) is asking Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to review how it treats people with depression.

The MP’s call follows an appeal by the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, for an overhaul of how the health service treats mental health in general.

Mr Mulholland said: “Latest figures show 502 people took their own lives in Yorkshire and Humber, with 4,700 suicides in England in 2013. More than three quarters of these deaths were men.

“These tragic deaths can be prevented. The majority of people who are feeling suicidal do not want to die. We have to do more to make sure people have the support they need so they do not get to the point where they believe taking their own life is their only option. That’s why I hope the NHS in Leeds commits to the new ambition of zero suicides. We have to work together to remove the stigma around talking about suicide, so people are not afraid to ask for help.”

Three NHS areas – Liverpool, the South West and East England – have already created programmes aimed at eliminating suicide by 2017/18.

Steps being taken or considered include: Keeping in touch with patients who move back home after being on a ward; having a personal safety plan in place so patients, family and friends know what to do and where to go for help; bringing mental health safety systems in line with treatment for physical health – for example by introducing a process for staff to follow if a patient is judged to be at high risk of suicide.