Thursday 25 July 2024
A ‘real opportunity to stop people becoming victims of knife crime’ through hospitals sharing data has been emphasised by RCEM President Dr Adrian Boyle in a BBC documentary.
‘The Science Of… Knife Crime’, which aired on BBC Radio 4 on 25 July 2024 and is available online, explores how a scientific approach could be the solution to saving lives.
RCEM was invited to take part in the documentary to provide insight into how data sharing initiatives happening between Emergency Department (EDs) and community safety authorities are reducing violence.
The College launched a UK-wide initiative to support EDs with collecting and sharing accurate data on assaults through its Information Sharing to Tackle Violence (ISTV) project with the Home Office earlier this year.
Dr Adrian Boyle, RCEM President, said: “What this documentary has reinforced is the incredible work happening academically and in Emergency Medicine to save people who are victims of knife crime.
“But there is more we can do to try and prevent these incidents happening in the first place and is why RCEM has been so supportive of the ISTV programme and why we encourage every Emergency Department to implement it.
“By taking a data-led and preventative approach, hospitals can help save lives without patients entering through Emergency Department doors.”
RCEM’s President explains to the documentary’s presenter Emergency Medicine Doctor and broadcast journalist Saleyha Ahsan how hospital staff can support violence reduction in their local communities by asking three questions: ‘Where did the violence happen, when did it happen, and was a weapon used?’.
By collecting this information, which is anonymised before it is shared with community safety partnerships, police and other agencies can understand patterns of violence and act upon it.
The Cardiff Model for Violence Prevention is part of what ISTV is using to standardise how data is being collected. It is estimated that full implementation of the model would prevent 60,000 ED attendances of assault victims in England each year.
The ‘The Science Of… Knife Crime’ will be broadcasted again on BBC Radio 4 on 2 August 2024 at 23:30 and is available on BBC Sounds for a year.
The programme also features Polly Haywood, Midlands Air Ambulance and West Midlands Ambulance Service MERIT; Professor Karim Brohi, Consultant Trauma Surgeon at Royal London Hospital and Professor of Trauma Sciences at Queen Mary University; Martin P Griffiths, Consultant Trauma Surgeon, Royal London Hospital; Dr Neal Durge, Consultant in Emergency Medicine at Royal London Hospital; and Professor John Clarkson, University of Cambridge.
