The Health and Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on 11 December 2024 was scheduled to discuss two significant topics: suicide prevention and the development of the council’s Safe and Sound service.

Suicide Prevention

Councillors were provided with a report from the Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership¹ that provided an update on suicide prevention work.

The report recognised that

Every life we lose through suicide is a life too many

It went on to describe how rates of suicide in Bradford had risen to the England average in recent years.

The report set out details of a coronial audit that had been undertaken by the council alongside Calderdale and Kirklees councils which provided insights into the reasons why people die by suicide. It also explained how its findings were informing a new suicide prevention action plan for the district.

It described the range of training courses on offer across the region and detailed a number of communications campaigns that are aiming to prevent suicide. These include the ‘Check-in with your mate’ campaign which is targeted at men and the ‘Check-in with Pride’ campaign which encourages people to support the LGBTQ+ community.

The report concluded by asking the committee to

consider[] opportunities to promote the Healthy Minds website to wider community networks

It also asked them to

share[] any additional insights that support the ongoing commitment to co-production and learning through lived experience

Developing the ‘Safe and Sound’ Service

A report from the Strategic Director for Adult Social Care and Health² was presented to the committee about the council’s Safe and Sound service.

The report explained that Safe and Sound

is a community alarm and technology offer hosted by Bradford Council that offers people and their families peace of mind and independence

It explained that a national digital switchover due to take place in 2026 means that the council will have to replace equipment for all users of its service. The report also explained that this presented an opportunity to implement what it called a ‘Technology Enabled Care’ offer. This new offer would mean that the service could

minimise the risk of falls and assist early identification of UTI’s and providing reminders and prompts around nutrition and fluid intake

The report then explained that, because the service is currently heavily subsidised, the change in service provision would be accompanied by a consultation on a new charging model.

It set out a number of options for the new model, and proposed the adoption of a four-tier charging structure. This model would see people who use the service offered a basic package, a basic package with monitoring, a home safety package, or a falls package. Alongside these packages, users could also choose to pay for their relatives to be contacted in the event the alarm is triggered, or for the council’s mobile response team to be dispatched.

The report explained that the council had already begun a consultation with users on the new charging model.

The report concluded by asking the committee to recognise the development of the new offer and to

provide[] feedback on the proposal to implement a varied charging model