The Public Health Agency (PHA) in Northern Ireland published the findings of a study into the aftercare received by those who attended hospital after self-harming.

Key findings include:
• Between 2007 and 2012, 4,733 individuals were treated for 8,175 self-harm episodes. The number of self-harm presentations was highest on Sunday and Monday, accounting for 34% of all presentations. There were on average 282 additional self-harm presentations on both Sundays and Mondays, when compared with the remaining weekdays.
• Attendance at the Emergency Department (ED) varied throughout the day, with the majority of presentations occurring at night time. Over a third of all presentations occurred between 11pm and 3am (34%).
• Admission to either a general or psychiatric ward occurred in 61% of presentations. Over half of self-harm presentations resulted in admission to a general ward (54%) with a further 7% resulting in psychiatric admission. Just under one-third (29%) of cases of self-harm were not admitted. In 7% of self-harm presentations, the patient left the ED before a next care. recommendation could be made and just 3% of presentations resulted in a patient refusing to be admitted.
• A mental health assessment was recorded as having been carried out for 15% of self-harm patients in the ED. An assessment can occur at different stages of a patient’s journey depending on the nature of their presentation and also their willingness to stay for an assessment. These assessments vary in nature across each hospital. Data collected in this report includes mental health assessments conducted for those patients in the ED at the time of presentation.
• Alcohol was involved in 60% of self-harm presentations, and was highest among those refusing admission and those leaving the ED without being seen. In addition, the involvement of alcohol at the time of the self-harm presentation meant that a patient was less likely to receive a mental health assessment in the ED.