Violence takes its toll on hospital admissions

Hospital staff in Sunderland and South Tyneside treated a serious assault victim almost every day last year, new figures show.

Anti-violence charities say the figures show more needs to be done to tackle issues such as knife crime and alcohol-fueled brawls.

NHS figures shows doctor sat South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust saw 340 patients were admitted to hospital after being assaulted in 2019-20 – an average of almost one patient per day.

They were among 5,255 assault victims recorded across the North East and Yorkshire. Nationally, 28,905 assault admissions were recorded.

Local breakdown son the type of assault are not available, but nationally assault by bodily force was the most common cause of admission – accounting for 16,852 hospital stays – and knife and sharp object injuries accounted for 4,674 admissions and assaults with a blunt object 2,115.

The charity Stand Against Violence said the figures show knives are not as much of a problem as fists, despite "relentless emphasis" on knife crime.

CEO Adam Four acres aid: "We need to ensure our efforts to tackle violence focus on tackling violence holistically and not honing in on weapons.

“Alcohol use, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights, is a major contributor to societal violence.”

Patrick Green, CEO of anti-knife charity the Ben Kinsella Trust, said it was a relief to see a drop in knife-related injuries, after admissions fell from 5,069 in 2018-19.