Emotional support charity Samaritans Scotland has described the Scottish Government’s draft suicide prevention plan as “very disappointing”, as ministers announced suicide ‘first aiders’ are to be provided in every workplace.

With the last suicide prevention strategy having expired in 2016, Samaritans Scotland executive director James Jopling said much more had been expected after a two year wait for a new plan.

Other proposals in the plan launched by Mental Health Minister Maureen Watt include building links between the public sector, businesses and charities, establishing a “knowledge into action” group to look at evidence about self harm and suicide, and making more use of social media.

Herald View: Two years in the making, Scottish Government's suicide prevention plan is a let down

However other ideas, such as tackling the link between poverty and suicide or school-based counselling are not mentioned in the plan, which also makes no mention of how work is to be funded. The Government launched the draft plan yesterday ahead of a six week consultation period.

At an event in Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium, Ms Watt said: “Every life matters and everyone has a role to play in suicide prevention. While the suicide rate in Scotland has fallen over the past decade, I want us to go further to prevent deaths.”

She added that it was important to listen to people who had been affected by suicide and charities delivering support.

However Samaritans Scotland chief executive James Jopling said proposals from the charity had not made it into the plan, and neither had most of the suggestions from events held with people affected by the suicide of someone close to them.

“Our hopes were to see meaningful and better resourced commitments to address suicide, both among the general public and those we know have a much higher risk. We are very disappointed at the limits of what has been published.”

Herald View: Two years in the making, Scottish Government's suicide prevention plan is a let down

He said much was known about the groups at highest risk, including males, people in their middle years and people living in deprived areas.

“The plan acknowledges this but makes not commitment to action to address the needs of any of those groups,” he said. The plan also contains no detail on how it will be delivered, including timescales, targets, or resources, he claimed.

Herald View: Two years in the making, Scottish Government's suicide prevention plan is a let down

Mr Jopling said the plan was only a draft, but added: “Were these the only actions to be contained within a final plan we fear it will not have the impact we hoped for on further reducing suicide in Scotland.”

He called on people across Scotland to get involved in the consultation to help shape the Scottish Government’s plan.

This was echoed by Shirley Windsor, public mental health lead at NHS Health Scotland, which is to run consultation events on the proposals.

She said “We are particularly pleased to see recognition of the need for a universal response to suicide prevention,” and said workplace mental health training had huge potential.

However she also acknowledged the plan’s limitations. “I think it is a starter for 10” she said. “We need to know what the timeframe is and whether there will be additional resources.

“We would like to see specific local plans for how we are going to achieve the culture and ethos that will lead to a mentally healthy Scotland. The suicide rate is going down, but we can’t be complacent.” The final plan is to be published in the summer.