§ Charles HendryTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are being implemented under the National Suicide Prevention Strategy to reduce instances of self-harm in young people. [161081]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonThe National Institute for Clinical Excellence is currently preparing guidelines for the management of self-harm in accident and emergency departments. This includes the services provided to children and young people. Once published, the National Institute for Mental Health in England (NIMHE) will support local services in establishing procedures and services for people presenting at accident and emergency with self-harm.
A risk assessment training package (STORM) focusing on self-harm is being piloted in two areas and in five prisons.
NIMHE is supporting local mental health services in implementing the 12 points to a safer service—developed from the work of the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide—which includes recommendations for patients who self-harm.
§ Charles HendryTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has commissioned into(a) suicide and (b) deliberate self-harm in young people; and if he will make a statement on the findings of the research. [161082]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonA national collaborative is being established with Department of Health funding for the monitoring of deliberate self-harm (DSH), including that of young people. Through this monitoring it will be possible to estimate the number of suicides in the year following DSH and thereby inform suicide and deliberate self-harm strategies.
The Department has recently funded a study of coroners' records covering different methods of suicide across the whole age range.
The Department also funds the Oxford Monitoring System for Attempted Suicide. Its aims are to provide comprehensive monitoring of long-term trends in DSH; the identification of information (causes, risk factors and outcome) relevant to service provision for DSH patients; an evaluation of suicide prevention strategies; and specific research projects on DSH.
In addition, mental health promotion pilots targeted at young men are being established in three areas, which, if successfully evaluated, will become part of the National Institute for Mental Health in England's mental health promotion work.
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§ Charles HendryTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many reported instances of deliberate self-harm there have been in people under 30 years old in each year since 1997, broken down by(a) age and (b) sex. [161084]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonThe information requested is not collected centrally.
§ Charles HendryTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the progress of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy in reducing the number of young people who commit suicide. [161085]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonThe National Suicide Prevention Strategy for England annual report on progress 2003 sets out progress in implementing the strategy, including action taken to reduce suicide in young people. A copy of the report is available in the Library.