Part of 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 3:00 pm on 17 October 2018.
Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. Recent analysis by the Children's Society found that a quarter of 14-year-old girls and nearly one in 10 boys in the UK had self-harmed in a year. Sadly, the levels of understanding of the reasons behind these figures are poor. The 'Mind over matter' report conducted by the children and young people committee shed an important light on this issue. Their report found that the number of young people admitted to A&E departments for self-harm had increased by 41 per cent in the past three years. Only Aneurin Bevan university health board records how many people go to follow-up support in the days after being discharged from hospital for self-harm, a period when access to appropriate support is critical. Can the Cabinet Secretary outline whether other health boards are aware of this initiative, and what more can the Welsh Government do to improve access to support following discharge?