Written question asked by Tim Loughton (Conservative) on Friday, 24 March 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 28 March 2006. It was answered by Baroness Winterton of Doncaster (Labour) on Wednesday, 10 May 2006 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Self-harm

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what role her Department has played in the six month trial at St. George's psychiatric hospital in Stafford into ways of treating people who self-harm; and if she will make a statement.

Answer: The pilot being undertaken by South Staffordshire Healthcare National Health Service Trust is part of a joint Department and National Institute for Mental Health in England (NIMHE) exercise, which started in January 2006 and is expected to run until autumn.The Department and NIMHE are jointly exploring the management of self-injury, focusing on adult service users, predominantly female, who self-injure as a coping mechanism, or survival strategy. The Department/NIMHE exercise will ascertain the level of local and regional support and the evidence base for adopting a harm-reduction approach. In addition, the exercise will judge the appropriateness, with the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, of developing guidelines and training to facilitate a harm minimisation approach amongst service providers.

Secondary information