THE Scottish Government is taking “decisive action” to bring down the number of children being admitted to hospital with self-harm-related injuries, mental health minister Kevin Stewart has said.
Research has revealed the number of kids going to hospital with injuries that suggest self-harm is up by a third since the start of the pandemic.
There were 1707 inpatients under the age of 18 diagnosed with self-harm-related injuries last year, up from 1141 in 2019 and more than double the number diagnosed a decade ago.
Independent researchers at the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Spice) have prepared a briefing for MSPs on the alarming Public Health Scotland (PHS) figures before publication of Scotland’s new suicide prevention action plan in September.
Stewart has said young people’s mental health is a “priority” and a range of new services will be tested to tackle self-harm over the next three years.
Meanwhile, a stand-alone Scottish self-harm strategy – believed to be the first of its kind – is also being developed.
"Children and young people’s mental health is a priority for the Scottish Government and we are taking decisive action to address the significant impact the pandemic has had on this group,” said Stewart.
“Following additional investment of £40 million last year for CAMHS [Children and Adolescent Mental Health services], the latest national performance data is showing that more than 5,000 children and young people began treatment in the last quarter, the highest-ever recorded.
“The Government is also taking targeted action now to support people who self-harm. This includes testing a range of new services over the next three years, starting this summer to provide vital support to children as young as 12.
“We are also developing a stand-alone Scottish self-harm strategy – we believe the first of its kind – which aims to ensure the right policies and compassionate support are in place for people who self-harm, so that we can tailor our responses.
“In all our work on self-harm we are engaging with people with lived experience, and services that support them.”
Self-harm includes non-fatal overdoses, alcohol poisoning and self-inflicted bodily injuries and excludes accidents, substance misuse short of poisoning and eating disorders.
PHS records data on the number of inpatients diagnosed with self-harm-related injuries in Scottish NHS acute hospitals, for both adults and children.
The Spice briefing added: “These figures will only show a small proportion of the total of intentional self-harm in Scotland.”
According to the Scottish Health Survey, self-harm is particularly common among young women although its data does not include information on self-harm in those under 16.
In response to the Spice research, Children and Young People’s Commissioner for Scotland said mental health and access to services was a “huge concern” and highlighted its recent warnings about the effect of Covid-19 on waiting times for mental health services.
Spice found that the suicide rate in Scotland declined between 202 and 2017 but increased in 2018 and 2019 before falling slightly in 2020.
