Using metrics to predict and prevent incidents of self-harm, violence and aggression Mersey Care NHS Trust

Contact: Lisa Knight, Measuring and Monitoring of Safety Project Manager, Mersey Care NHS Trust

Mersey Care NHS Trust provides specialist inpatient and community mental health, learning disability and substance misuse services for adults in Liverpool, Sefton and Kirkby. It also provides medium secure services for Merseyside and Cheshire, and high secure services covering the North West of England, the West Midlands and Wales.

Mersey Care’s strategic objective is to be the safest mental health trust in England within two years. This project, in partnership with the Advancing Quality Alliance (AQuA), is part of the work towards that goal, and will build on work already done around improving safety and reducing incidents at the trust.

The project will involve applying the Safety Measurement and Monitoring Framework to help reduce incidents of self-harm, violence and aggression at the trust, with a focus on learning from past and current incidents to anticipate and prepare for potential recurrence. The team aims to develop predictive or anticipatory metrics aimed at reducing incidents, using a framework that supports clinical and patient engagement in a proactive approach to risk reduction.

The trust has a wealth of risk data to support their understanding of the context within which incidents occur. However, these data have previously had a focus on ‘after the event’. Through this project they hope to utilise these data to support preparedness and anticipation of future incidents.

The team will apply the Safety Measurement and Monitoring framework to test and embed a system that supports predictive indicators and organisational learning.