Sharp rise in self-harm reported by mental health units in England

Experts say ‘extremely worrying’ increase shows NHS services struggling to provide support

The number of times patients have self-harmed while in mental health units has almost doubled in five years, prompting concern that services are struggling to help those in their care.

Data obtained by the Guardian from nearly half of NHS mental health trusts across England show that incidents of self-harm among inpatients shot up from 15,489 to 28,585 between 2013 and 2017. During that period the number of patients who reportedly self-harmed increased from 4,432 to 6,326.

One of the provoking factors for patients is the lack of understanding and empathy from staff

Continue reading... April 01, 2018 at 07:32PM