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Mental health
Key role of specialist mental health clinicians in improving emergency department self-harm care
  1. Sarah Steeg1,2,
  2. Leah M Quinlivan1,3
  1. 1Centre for Mental Health and Safety, Division of Psychology and Mental Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
  2. 2National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) School for Primary Care Research, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
  3. 3NIHR Greater Manchester Patient Safety Research Collaboration, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Sarah Steeg; Sarah.Steeg{at}manchester.ac.uk

https://doi.org/10.1136/ebnurs-2024-104134

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    Commentary on: Veresova M, Michail M, Richards H, et al. Emergency department staff experiences of working with people who self-harm: A qualitative examination of barriers to optimal care. Int J Mental Health Nurs. 2024. doi: 10.1111/inm.13353

    Implications for practice and research

    • Support from specialist mental health clinicians is a key mechanism for improving self-harm care among emergency department (ED) staff.

    • Findings underpin the need for compassion and empathy when treating people presenting in distress, especially those who present multiple times.

    • Future research should focus on strategies for improving implementation of self-harm clinical guidelines in EDs.

    Context

    Emergency departments (EDs) have a crucial role in suicide prevention. Around 18% of people who died by suicide presented to ED in the month prior to death, commonly for self-harm.1 A hospital presentation for self-harm is one of the strongest risk factors for suicide; in one UK-based study, around 0.5% of people presenting to hospital …

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    Footnotes

    • X @SarahESteeg

    • Competing interests SS was funded by a fellowship (award number: MH009) as part of the Three National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Research Schools Mental Health Programme. LQ is funded by the NIHR Greater Manchester Patient Safety Research Collaboration (NIHR204295). The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, NIHR, or the Department of Health and Social Care.

    • Provenance and peer review Commissioned; internally peer reviewed.