Deliberate self harm: Results of an integrated team approach in a teaching hospital

Abstract

The objective of the Self Harm Intervention Project (S.H.I.P.) at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital is to obtain information and identify significant issues which will assist in the management and contribute towards effective hospital and community care of patients who present with deliberate self-harm. A team of two workers was employed to gather data on all patients who presented to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital with deliberate self-harm and to monitor their assessment and management until they were linked back to the community. Follow-up agencies were contacted to confirm a patient's attendance and counselling offered to those who did not receive any follow-up. The Self Harm Intervention Project has shown that a team targeting deliberate self-harm patients is useful in terms of gathering data, monitoring the population group and providing direct clinical service. This multi-faceted approach contributes towards ‘best practice’ in the management of deliberate self-harm.