Bristol Self-Harm Surveillance Register data enables research projects

Data from the Bristol Self-Harm Surveillance Register, the first ‘real time’ register in the UK, is enabling a number of studies into self-harm in the city region. NIHR CLAHRC West researchers are analysing data from the register to shed light on the types of people who are self-harming and trends in self-harm in the population served by the Bristol Royal Infirmary and Southmead Hospital. This work supports Bristol’s hospital psychiatry services and the Suicide Prevention Group led by Bristol City Council, while also enabling a number of in-depth studies.

These include:

• evaluation of the Bristol Royal Infirmary Liaison Psychiatry Services hours extension
• an investigation of the links between self-harm and domestic violence and abuse, published as ‘Prevalence and correlates of domestic violence among people seeking treatment for self-harm: data from a regional self-harm register‘ in Emergency Medicine Journal
• a project to look at pathways to care for people who present to the hospital for self-harm, linking the register data with hospital, community care, social care, primary care, out-of-hours GP datasets
• analysing trends in self-harm presentations among young people

The Register has been used to record detailed information on patients presenting to hospital for self-harm since September 2010. It is a database in the Emergency Department at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, part of University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust.

The register shows how often people present at the hospital following self-harm. It also shows trends in the incidence of self-harm and how it’s managed. Hospital staff can use it to see the impact of changes in service delivery on patient management and outcomes. It also highlights risk factors for repeat self-harm and suicide and the medicines people use when they take an overdose.

This information is vital to local prevention efforts and to the Bristol Health Partners Improving Care in Self-Harm Health Integration Team (STITCH HIT). It provides an insight into the management of patients for clinicians and managers while also allowing the evaluation of services against NICE guidelines for treatment of self-harm patients.