Casualty doctors helping police reduce crime

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Casualty doctors at the Royal Alexandra Hospital are helping the police reduce violent crime in the area.

Patients who have been assaulted will be encouraged to complete a form giving details of the assault, including the weapon used, the number of attackers and where the assault occurred. The data will be provided by patients on a voluntary basis and will be anonymous. The pilot project will not breach patient confidentiality, no patients personal details such as the names or addresses will be disclosed. The details are then passed to the police. Officers will then be able to channel resources to troubled hotspots in an around Paisley.

The RAH has signed up to the pilot project, run by the Violence Projection Unit. Information gathered at the busy A&E department will be used to build on previous research, which revealed that more than 50% of brutal attacks aren’t reported to police.

Duncan Gray, A&E Consultant at the RAH, has given the violence reduction scheme his full backing, he explained:

“Assaults are such a huge problem for us here. Glasgow and the West of Scotland are some of the worst places in Europe for knife crime. There is also a steady stream of assaults from punching, kicking and blunt objects. Injuries vary from minor cuts and bruises to serious injury or death. I recently saw a 12-year-old boy stabbed in the back who fortunately survived. The data collected will be anonymous and supplied by the patients on a voluntary basis. The publicity on the scheme makes it clear that we are asking anyone who has been assaulted to fill out the simple form. A post box in the waiting room in A&E is provided for the completed forms. A similar scheme in Cardiff led to a 25% reduction in violence in the City.”

VRU Chiefs hope the clampdown will help prevent many more from falling victim to violent assaults and ending up in casualty.

Karyn McCluskey, Deputy Head of the VRU said:

“We are delighted that the Royal Alexandra Hospital has agreed to pilot this injury surveillance scheme. It’s an excellent example of collaborative working. It’s important that we have a true picture of the extent of the violent incidents. A previous study revealed that levels of violence reported to the police were under reported by more than 50%. We need to be able to place our resources right where incidents of violence are occurring.”

Press Release: Monday 27 February 2006