Written question asked by Rudi Vis (Labour) on Thursday, 9 July 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 13 July 2009. It was answered by Maria Eagle (Labour) on Monday, 20 July 2009 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Aylesbury Prison: Injuries

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many incidents of self-injury have been recorded in Aylesbury prison in each month since January 2009; and how many such injuries have required hospital treatment.

Answer: The latest recorded self-harm figures available are for 2008. NOMS records data across a diverse range of incident types. These data are subject to reporting lags and other issues inherent in any large scale administrative database. Therefore NOMS policy is not to provide current year-to-date figures.In 2008, there were 265 incidents of self-harm at HMYOI Aylesbury. Of these incidents, six required treatment in external hospital. These figures are given in aggregate form only. NOMS also has a policy not to provide breakdowns of data, particularly of prison-level data, to the extent where the anonymity of individuals may be compromised.The National Offender Management Service has a broad integrated and evidence-based prisoner suicide prevention and self harm management strategy that seeks to reduce the distress of all those in prison. This encompasses a wide spectrum of prison and Department of Health work around such issues as mental health, substance misuse and resettlement. Any prisoner identified as at risk of suicide or self-harm is cared for using the assessment, care in custody and teamwork (ACCT) procedures. Most self harm is not directly life threatening, but nevertheless can be extremely distressing for those who have to deal with it. A prisoner focussed care planning system for those at risk has helped prisons manage self harm. There are no easy answers to managing self harming behaviour but we remain committed to finding ways to manage it.

Secondary information