New £2.5m National Centre for Suicide Prevention and Self-harm Research to advise Welsh Government

An Anglesey father whose daughter tragically took her own life when she was just 20 years old has praised the launch of a new £2.5m research centre, which will help support a new Welsh Government strategy to tackle suicide and self harm. 

University medical student Anna Phillips took her life in 2015, having previously experienced difficulties with self-harm and suicidal thoughts.   

Anna's father, David, subsequently developed prolonged grief disorder (PGD), which occurs when a person cannot stop thinking about a loved one who has died over a period of six months or more, causing the individual profound distress.  

David said that the launch of the new National Centre for Suicide Prevention and Self-harm Research, funded by Health and Care Research Wales, formed a critical step in allowing researchers to understand the complexity of issues surrounding suicide and self-harm and develop interventions to support people, adding that he hoped it would ultimately help to reduce rates of suicide in Wales. 

Recalling the moment that changed his life forever, David said: “It was just totally out of the blue - I had a phone call from a nurse at an intensive care unit who told me that Anna had taken her life. 

“To be told on the telephone what had happened - you just feel totally, utterly helpless, and numb. You’ve just been told this awful thing. And then the nurse said is there anybody with you? And there wasn't, in fact, at that particular moment. 

“Understanding the causes of these issues is extremely important – as a society, generally speaking we tend not to be very good at things like interventions until, so to speak, it’s five minutes to midnight, when in fact we need to have the tools to be ready to help people at six o’ clock in the morning.” 

In 2019 David established The Anna Phillips Foundation, which uses nature based ecotherapy and green care to help people with trauma-related mental health challenges. The charity also works to help better understanding of the social causes of self-harm and suicide. 

Welsh Government’s Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing, Sarah Murphy, has today (1 April) announced the launch of a new ten-year strategy to reduce suicide deaths in Wales and provide compassionate support for people who self-harm or have suicidal thoughts when they need it the most.  The work of the National Centre for Suicide Prevention and Self-harm Research will play a key role in the delivery of the strategy, both through the research it will develop and its advisory function.  

Professor Ann John, Director of the centre, added: “The new national strategy makes it unmistakably clear that suicide prevention and self-harm matter in Wales. The launch of the national centre recognises the need for high quality research, robust evidence and meaningful insights to drive our actions and inform policy makers. This includes not only data and research, but also the voices of those with lived experience, who are at the heart of the centre’s work.”

Keep up to date with the work of the Centre by signing up to the Health and Care Research Wales bulletin.