Patients who self-harm are being allowed to cut themselves in hospitals and mental health units as part of a ground-breaking approach to help them hurt themselves more safely.

Medical professionals who support the controversial method of treatment argue that those determined to self-harm should be helped to minimise the risk of infection from dirty blades.

But others believe helping patients self-harm goes against their code of ethics. Ian Hulatt, mental health adviser for the Royal College of Nursing, said: ‘It is a very complex and confusing issue, but then, so is the phenomenon of someone hurting themselves to feel better.’

The Observer