BOLTON is aspiring to make suicides a thing of the past.

Health bosses are setting out plans to reduce suicide rates to zero as they look to reform the way care is delivered in the town.

At Thursday's meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Board of Bolton Council at the town hall, assistant director of public health, Sue Longden said a draft suicide prevention partnership strategy had been produced.

The "No more suicides in Bolton" plans are part of an overall aim to improve the health of the Bolton population.

Mrs Longden said: "It feels like an incredible challenge, but every suicide is an individual and an individual suicide, and every suicide should be prevented.

"There is the challenge in looking at the causes and effects with the age gaps and there is a lot to get into.

"Our aim is for Bolton to be a vibrant place built on strong cohesive communities, successful businesses and healthy, engaged residents.

"It is not just about helping people live a long time, but living a long time in a healthy and fulfilled way."

In January, The Bolton News reported how a interim report on suicide rates in Bolton by Public Health found the town records around 30 suicides per year — lower than the national average.

However, it also found an increase in suicides in the most deprived fifth of the population — making up a third of suicides across all of Bolton in 2014 but accounted for 58 per cent in the first eight months alone of 2016.

Details of the strategy are to be agreed later this month as part of the ongoing work of the Population Health and Prevention strategic partnership.

The partnership, which is focusing on both emotional and physical wellbeing, is also looking at reducing falls and social isolation in communities.

Mrs Longden added: "There is a very small spend on primary intervention and a big spend in hospitals. The aim of the plan is to shift that spend. If we can shift that money it will impact on the health of the population and hospital activity.

"Some people say this will take years and years, but it doesn't have to. It can happen very quickly, in a period of months of the prevention strategy being implemented to help prevent falls and the like, which reduces the numbers going to hospital."