§ Mr. OatenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents involving self harm there have been in Holloway Prison in each of the past three years. [178575]
§ Paul Goggins[holding answer 14 June2004]: The information requested is provided in the following table:
1166W
Holloway Prison Number of recorded incidents of self-harm (not the number of individuals) 2001 542 2002 765 2003 1851 1 In December 2002, a new form for reporting self-injury (the F213SH) was introduced across the prisons estate in England and Wales, which is known to have improved reporting practices. Much of the increase in reported self-harm in 2003 may result from the change in reporting procedures rather than reflect an actual increase in incidence of self-harm. Women prisoners will benefit from a specifically targeted and separate suicide prevention and self-harm management strategy being developed for them. This draws upon specialist knowledge of suicidal and self-harming behaviour among women prisoners, and builds upon a number of interventions including: individual crisis counselling for women prisoners who self-harm; the continued development and evaluation of dialectical behaviour therapy, which is currently being trialled at Durham, Bullwood Hall and Holloway prisons; investment and planning to ensure progress on the detoxification strategy in women's prisons; and the introduction of a new training pack for all staff working with women in custody, which includes a module on the health and well-being of women prisoners. A total of £l million from the Department of Health has been allocated to women's prisons to be spent on the recruitment of psychiatric nurses.