Clinical guidelines on risk assessment

The 2022 NICE guideline, Self-harm: assessment, management and preventing recurrence, states that risk assessment tools and scales should not be used to predict future suicide or repetition of self-harm, or to determine who should or should not be offered treatment or who should be discharged.

The guidelines suggest risk assessment should focus on the person’s needs and how to support their immediate long-term psychological and physical safety.

• Read the NICE guideline: Self-harm: assessment, management and preventing recurrence
• Read an editorial on the 2022 NICE guideline: New guidance for self-harm: an opportunity not to be missed (The British Journal of Psychiatry, 2023)

The “Staying Safe from Suicide” guidance from NHS England also promotes a shift from risk stratification to a more personalised approach to safety assessment, and builds upon the 2022 NICE guideline.

• Read the guidance: Staying safe from suicide – Best practice guidance for safety assessment, formulation and management

This work was completed as part of the Culture of Care Programme. The work was supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Greater Manchester Patient Safety Research Collaboration (GM PSRC) (Grant Reference Number NIHR204295). Leah Quinlivan is fully funded by the NIHR GM PSRC, Pauline Rivart was part funded by the NIHR GM PSRC, and Professor Nav Kapur is part funded by the NIHR GM PSRC.  The views expressed on this webpage are those of the authors and not necessarily those of NICE, NIHR, NHS, or the UK Department of Health and Social Care.