Burnham backs mandatory suicide prevention training for social workers after parent-carer Matilda Davis’s death

Former art teacher Matilda Davis, who cared for her disabled son, took her own life shortly after meeting with social workers. Burnham, who represents Stratford-upon-Avon, supported mandatory suicide prevention training for all local authorities in England after Davis's death. The Liberal Democrat MP Manuela Perteghella highlighted that 41% of parent-carers have contemplated suicide, emphasizing the need for systemic change.

Burnham promised to arrange a meeting with Perteghella and Davis's family to discuss this proposal. The coroner's order to Warwickshire council to make suicide prevention training mandatory for 600 staff members is seen as a step in the right direction, according to Davis's brother, Joel Harley-Davis, who believes the training could have prevented his sister's death.