Support unpaid carers so they aren’t pushed to the brink of suicide

With almost half of parent-carers contemplating taking their lives, Dr Louise Lawson calls for urgent action by the government

Reading the report on Matilda Davis’s death was heartbreaking (Burnham backs mandatory suicide prevention training for social workers after parent-carer Matilda Davis’s death, 21 October). That someone already under immense pressure could leave a meeting with social workers feeling so distressed, and that the professionals had received no suicide-prevention training, is an indictment of the system. It is reassuring to hear Andy Burnham’s support for mandatory training for social workers. But there is an even more troubling issue at the heart of this story – the finding that 41% of parent-carers have contemplated suicide should prompt outrage and immediate action.

Campaigning by Ed Davey, alongside the Guardian’s investigation into the carer’s allowance scandal, have exposed the extent to which unpaid carers have been failed by the state. For years they have been described as inspirational and selfless. They give up careers, sacrifice income and provide care that saves the state billions of pounds. Yet the reality revealed by this figure is that many feel so overwhelmed and unsupported that they have contemplated ending their lives.

Mandatory suicide-prevention training may help professionals identify those in crisis. But the real scandal is that so many are being pushed to this point in the first place. It is time for the government to provide the practical, emotional and financial support that unpaid carers desperately need. Dr Louise Lawson Lecturer in social policy, University of Glasgow