Written question asked by Cheryl Gillan (Conservative) on Monday, 10 December 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 12 December 2007. It was answered by Maria Eagle (Labour) on Monday, 17 December 2007 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Prisoners: Self-Mutilation

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what criteria are applied by the Prison Service when deciding whether an event is to be reported as a self-harming incident.

Answer: The Prison Service defines self-harm as any incident where a prisoner deliberately harms themselves irrespective of method, intent or severity of any injury.Prison Service Order 2700: Suicide Prevention and Self-Harm Management instructs that all incidents of self-harm must be reported on incident report forms and an F213SH self-harm form must be completed. Noose/ligature making must also be reported on the F213SH even if no injury has occurred. Information from the F213SH is logged at establishments on the Incident Reporting System (IRS). All incidents where resuscitation and or transfer to outside hospital as the result of self-harm have been required must also be reported to HMPS National Operations Unit by telephone.

Secondary information