New call for action as ex-military suicides issue in spotlight again
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The Government is coming under increasing pressure to monitor suicide rates among military veterans – seven months after this newspaper joined others nationwide in calling for more to be done.
A project by Jpimedia Investigations last summer revealed the Government does not monitor the number of former service personnel who take their own lives, despite fears the number of cases was spiralling.
In a report published on Monday, the Commons Defence Committee pushed for this ‘data gap’ to be filled, amid a disagreement between government departments about how this could be done.
Committee member Ruth Smeeth MP said work done to improve mental healthcare for service personnel and veterans was ‘simply nowhere near enough’.
Scores of military veterans are feared to have taken their own lives since this newspaper joined others nationwide in calling for action back in July.
National charity Veterans United Against Suicide believes 80 current of former service personnel may have died by suicide in 2018 – and five veterans and four serving members are feared to have taken their own lives already this year.
Campaigners last year urged the Government to introduce a system to comprehensively record veteran suicides.
Despite Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood saying in Novemberhewantedcoroners to document military veteran deaths, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) has now claimed it was not feasible. The Moj’s stance has been criticised by West Sussex County Council leader Louise Goldsmith, the mother of a serviceman.
Mrs Goldsmith, pictured, previously backed our call for action, renewed this week amid the Defence Committee report.
She said: “We are aware of the increased suicide rates and that is deeply, deeply worrying. As I said before, one veteran suicide is one too many.
“I am really disappointed by the Ministry of Justice’s stance. We need such deaths recorded so we can further understand the problem better. I applaud this newspaper’s campaign, which I fully support.”
Mrs Goldsmith’s support was last year backed by the likes of West Sussex county councillor David Edwards.
He battled suicidal thoughts and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after leaving the Army, stricken by guilt when his friend was killed in the Falklands War.
Speaking on Friday, Worthing councillor and Army veteran Major Tom Wye said there was ‘obviously a problem’, adding he regularly heard of cases of military suicides across the UK.
Mr Wye said ‘the biggest help’ would be if it became standard practice for military personnel medical records to be marked with their profession, so if they encountered problems GPS were instantly aware.
He said it was difficult to even know where exservicemen and women lived. He had backed a Royal British Legion campaign for an addition to the Census to signify if respondents were veterans.
A Coastal West Sussex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) spokesman said GPS ‘had the ability’ to mark-up notes, with veteran patient codes and the option to use pop-ups to flag relevant information. This newspaper is keen to hear from families affected by the suicide of a military veteran, or ex-servicemen and women willing to share their story of dealing with mental health issues like PTSD. Contact oliver.poole@jpimedia.co.uk or call 01903 282358 – respondents can speak out on an anonymous basis.
Since publishing a version of this article online on Thursday, people ranging from veterans to those who have supported those with mental health problems have got in touch, but more cases will help to understand the issue and call for more to be done. A range of groups can offer help to those affected by issues raised in this article:
Veterans Gateway: 0808 802 1212 (24 hours a day)
Veterans UK: 0808 1914218 (8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday)
NHS: www.nhs.uk/usingthe-nhs/military-healthcare/ nhs-mental-health-servicesfor-veterans/
Samaritans: 116 123 (24 hours a day, seven days a week)
Combat Stress: 0800 138 1619 (24 hours a day, seven days a week)
Help for Heroes: 01980 844280 (weekdays 9am to 5pm)
Royal British Legion: 0808 802 8080 (8am to 8pm, seven days a week)