Aylesbury Liberal Democrats are calling on Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS trust to do their part to tackle knife crime. 43 young people died from knife crime last year throughout the country.
Local Lib Dems believe there is a strong case for hospital accident and emergency units and the police to work together to identify knife crime black spots after information released under the Freedom of Information Act point to the experience in Cardiff where information is routinely passed on to the police about locations where injuries caused by knife crime take place to back up their call for hospitals and police to work together.
Worryingly when asked “Do the Accident and Emergency Departments within your trust collect details of the locations of any incidents from patients that present to you with injuries caused or suspected to be caused by violent criminal offences (including, but not limited to, gun shot wounds, stab wounds, and assaults with or without a weapon)” Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS trust said “The Trust has no formal mechanism for recording this information. It is not a routine question asked at reception.”
Police in Cardiff have been able to target the areas with the worst knife crime rates and have cut incidents by 40%. “There is clear evidence that when hospitals help the police build up a picture of where knife crime is taking place, areas with high numbers of incidents can be tackled,” said Cllr Mark Willis, the Lib Dem County Council Candidate for Aylesbury South, which includes Stoke Mandeville Hospital the Town’s only Accident and Emergency department.
“The Cardiff model allows for the information to be handed on by hospitals anonymously. The result is therefore a fall in knife crime by nearly half. Unfortunately, 4 out of 5 hospitals in England are not passing on this vital information to the police. Amongst them is Stoke Mandeville. I strongly urge a change in policy by Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS trust so that the risk of knife crime in Aylesbury can be cut.

Notes for editors
Background information

• The ‘Cardiff Model’, established in 2002, collects data from Accident and Emergency wards about the precise locations and times of violent incidents and shares them anonymously with the police. This new approach has led to a 40% drop in knife crime in some areas.

The figures, contained in replies to Freedom of Information requests shows that:
• Only 25 of the 123 NHS trusts which responded to Freedom of Information requests are following the Cardiff Model
• The situation is no better in the nine areas in England taking part in the Tackling Knives Action Programme, where only 10 out of 58 trusts (17.2%) are following the Cardiff Model
• Three areas had no trusts using the model – Essex, Lancashire and Nottinghamshire

The responses to the FOI requests from hospital trusts are attached.