Three-quarters of people who take their own life across Dorset do not seek help from the NHS, a new report has revealed.

The Dorset Co-Produced All Age Suicide Prevention Action Plan has revealed that around 51 people of 70 who committed suicide last year are not in touch with the NHS.

The plan is produced by a number of partner agencies between Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group and other partners including healthcare charity Dorset Mind and Dorset Police and forms part of the government’s National Suicide Prevention Plan.

The Dorset Plan has five aims including the fact that health authorities wanted to reduce fear and stigma in high-risk groups, promote mental health and wellbeing widely and reduce the means of suicide at hotspots using risk assessments.

The report also noted that the Dorset suicide rate had been increasing since 2007 with the county having a suicide rate of 10 per 100,000 people last year however it stressed that authorities wanted to curb that rate by ten per cent by 2021.

Wil Voitus van Hamme, chairman of the Dorset Mental Health Alliance, said that although he welcomed the intention to reduce the number of deaths by ten per cent by 2021 he warned that a more ambitious target could be put in place.

He added: "Seventy-seven per cent of suicides are completed without the person having been in contact with mental health providers.

"Although this is in line with national averages, we should still view this as a societal failure."

Marianne Story, chief executive of mental health charity Dorset Mind, said: “With around 70 people a year dying from suicide in the county, we will make our own aspirations much higher than that and look forward to working as part of the partnership to do so.

"We can all work together to reduce the incidence of suicide, and the impact that suicide has on those who are left behind."

However, she stressed that Dorset Mind was likely to encounter many of those at risk of suicide that do not come to the attention of NHS services.

She also backed Mr Voitus van Hamme calls to see the ten per cent reduction target stretched much further.

A spokesman for suicide support charity Samaritans welcomed the news adding that having a suicide prevention plan could help agencies involved work together to tackle the issue and work with those affected.

The prevention plan will be discussed at next month’s meeting of the Dorset Mental Health Alliance.

People who need support with any suicide-related matters can call Samaritans on 116 123 or by emailing jo@samaritans.org.