{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.02177650429799427, 'fraction_numerical': 0.002292263610315186, 'mean_word_length': 4.97945205479452, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
The need for compassionate self-harm services

The anonymous author of a recent What Your Patient is Thinking article shares a powerful story of feeling that their self-harm was dismissed and how this affected future help seeking.1 Self-harm is a serious public health issue and is the strongest risk factor for suicide: it must be taken seriously by healthcare professionals and services so that patients do not avoid seeking support and continue to struggle with self-harm and psychological distress. The author described being free of self-harm when receiving regular care with one healthcare professional who used good communications skills such as listening. This is perhaps not surprising: recent research with young people who have harmed themselves found that continuity of GP care, with a GP who actively listened, understood, and arranged follow-up, was a key facilitator to accessing support for self-harm, and can help young people self-harm less.2 People with lived experience of self-harm cite this relationship based care as a crucial facet of self-harm care. The NHS Long Term Plan commits to the development of integrated primary and community care self-harm services.3 This represents apositive shift in services for self-harm, and there is good reason to remainoptimistic that these planned services will have positive effects for patients, families, the public, and the NHS.4 The role of people with lived experience is crucial in the upskilling and training of professionals to deliver these services and in their evaluation. At the core of these services, however, must be a compassionate and empathetic model of self-harm care, in which patients’ concerns and needs are respected and valued, along with continuity of care.