Partnership working combats crime
St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust is helping local police ‘fill in the blanks’ of assault crimes in a bid to reduce violent offences in Wandsworth. The initiative, part of a Home Office and Department of Health joint project for safer communities, has been rolled out nationally over the past five years. It requires the trust to share anonymous data about the precise location of violence, weapon use, assailants and day/time of violence with The Wandsworth Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP). This information is vital in helping the CDRP build a better picture of violent crimes committed in Wandsworth as a large number of cases treated in A&E are not reported to, or recorded by the police. They will then target areas where crime is more prevalent, or where there is an emerging trend in certain types of crimes or weapons used.
The scheme, which the trust joined almost a month ago, is the first of its kind in Wandsworth and aims to improve the safety of local residents and reduce the burden on the trust’s emergency department. Partnerships have been found to reduce A&E violent assault attendances by 25-33 per cent and in the first month the trust has already shared more than 100 incidents. Heather Jarman, consultant nurse in emergency care and assistant clinical director for major trauma, said: “This work with our community and police colleagues will enable the trust to support the crime prevention and public health agenda within our local community. The shared information is completely anonymous so ensures those who do not want to report their assault cannot be traced but it will build a picture of the prevelance, types and locations of violence in the area. This enables resources to be targeted appropriately. ” Superintendent David Chinchen, Partnership and Safer Neighbourhoods, said: “We are very pleased to be working in partnership with the trust and the Wandsworth local authority on this project, as the information will help us address violence hotspots across the borough so we can reduce incidents of violent crime. “In the long term, this will mean that there is less drain on trust and the police service as we work together proactively to prevent these incidents from occurring. “This type of information sharing has been very successful in reducing violent crime in other places where it has been introduced and we are confident it can have the same impact on Wandsworth borough.”
Notes to editors
- The trust started sharing data with crime and disorder reduction partnership at the beginning of the month. For more information, please contact the communications team at St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust on 020 8725 5151 or email communications@stgeorges.nhs.uk. Outside working hours, please page the team by calling 0844 822 2888, leaving a short message and contact details for pager SG548.
- To find out more about the CDRP/The community safety partnership CSP visit http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=8842574 orhttp://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/info/870/community_safety/323/wandsworth_community_safety_partnership/1
- To find out more about the effective NHS contributions to violence prevention Cardiff model visit http://www.vrg.cf.ac.uk/Files/vrg_violence_prevention.pdf.
