In his recent Editorial, ‘Engaging young people in treatment after self-harm’,1 Professor David Cottrell has talked about the importance of long-term management of children and young people who self-harm and engaging with them to prevent its recurrence. In our hospital, we conducted an audit on management and outcome of children and young people (<16 years) who were admitted to the paediatric ward with self-harm over a period of 2.5 years. The aim of the audit was to ensure compliance with National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines2 and local standards set by the Hospital Safeguarding Team.

Forty case notes of children and young people …