Cost-effectiveness of psychosocial assessments  

Psychosocial assessment is associated with lower risk of subsequent presentation to hospital for self-harm. The below studies review the cost-effectiveness of psychosocial assessments following self-harm.  

This study suggests implementing psychosocial assessments in the NHS in England is likely to be cost-effective. 

• Cost-effectiveness of psychosocial assessment for individuals who present to hospital following self-harm in England: A model-based retrospective analysis (European Psychiatry, 2022) 

Use of formal risk assessment tools for managing self-harm presentations to emergency departments was less cost-effective than clinician risk rating, though this was likely to result in unnecessary treatment costs.  This study provides no evidence for the effectiveness of the use of any formal scale or clinician rating of risk. 

• Risk assessment scales to predict risk of hospital treated repeat self-harm: A cost-effectiveness modelling analysis (Journal of Affective Disorders, 2019)  

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.