‘A court case last week could change the way universities are expected to look after their students - including their mental health. The High Court is considering whether universities owe what is called a duty of care to their students. Last year, a judge ruled that the University of Bristol had failed to make reasonable adjustments for Natasha - a decision against which the university is now appealing’.1
The Department of Education (“DfE”) stated in its response that universities currently have a general duty of care “to deliver educational and pastoral services to the standard of an ordinarily competent institution” and that in doing so “, they are expected to act reasonably to protect the health, safety and welfare of their students”. 2
I am not going to discuss the case that BBC is referring to as I have no legal training or sufficient knowledge of the legality of the duty of care. But, I have lost two students to suicide over the 30+ years I have been working at a HEI, and I just wanted to share my experience.
When a student comes to us, as we are their personal tutor, because they are having a mental crisis or have suicidal life-threatening thoughts, the first thing we can do is listen. We would not necessarily consider whether we have a duty of care; we would be concerned with the consequences if we do not help and support them there and then.
This is based on my own experience and asking those who have sought my support. They always say, ‘Can I talk to you?’ or ‘Can you just listen to me?’. They say they just want to say what's going on in their life/mind, and they just want someone (preferably someone they know and have some rapport with) to listen to them. Once they express themselves, they would often tell me what they are going to do, i.e. seek professional help or find a way forward (e.g. take some time out).
To me, this is care, i.e. care enough to listen and offer a sounding board, not fix or sort out their life for them. We are not counsellors nor “in loco parentis”. We are there to support and be an advocate for them so they can find their own solutions, bridge the gap between the student, staff, and wellbeing services, and provide a safe place to speak about their mental health concerns.
With our Stay Mentally Healthy campaign, we want student suicide to end, not escalate. Our mission is to stop suicide within the educational community by equipping everyone: students, educators, staff and families with the tools to 'stay mentally healthy' and reach their full potential.
Suicide prevention must be about learning the skills to stay mentally healthy. Therefore, our focus through the 'Stay Mentally Healthy' Suicide Prevention Programme (SSPP) is on how we support the whole setting community in staying mentally healthy, as a prevention, as well as providing comprehensive intervention and postvention.
“We need an urgent paradigm shift in how we support students’ wellbeing in our educational settings. Current services available to students supporting their mental health address problems far too late, tragically sometimes after a student has taken their own life. The services provided are institutionally led; what is needed is a student-centred programme.”
If you want to know more, please contact us at https://www.thesejeducation.org.uk/contact.
1. (BBC news https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-67652089)
2. https://www.farrer.co.uk/news-and-insights/university-statutory-duty-of-care-for-students/
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