Knife injury and knife crime in hospitals

The request was partially successful.

Dear NHS Hospital Trust,

I am making a Freedom of Information request for the following information:

Can you specify how many patients under the age of 18 have been treated for knife injuries in your Trust since 2013. Can you give a break down by age and sex.

Over the same period can you tell me how many staff while at work in Trust hospitals have been threatened with a knife or similar sharp object, or attacked by people using knives or similar sharp object.

How many staff or visitors (ie not patients) to Trust hospitals have required treatment following an attack in a hospital.

How many times have police been called to hospitals in the trust area to deal with incidents involving violent behaviour of patients or hospital visitors in each year from 2013 to present?

Yours faithfully,

Andy Buckwell

FOI, Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Dear Mr Buckwell,

Freedom of Information Act Request Acknowledgment

Thank you for contacting the Freedom of Information Office at Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. We confirm that we have received your correspondence.

Your request below is being considered and you will receive a response within the statutory timescale of 20 working days following the date on which the request was received, as defined by the Act, subject to the information not being covered by an exemption or containing reference to a third party.

For your information, the Act defines a number of exemptions which may prevent release of some or all of the information you have requested. There will be an assessment and if any of the exemption categories apply then the information will not be released. You will be informed if this is the case, including your rights of appeal.

If the information you request contains reference to a third party then they may be consulted prior to a decision being taken on whether or not to release some or all of the information to you. You will be informed if this is the case.

There may be a fee payable for this information. This will be considered and you will be informed if as fee is payable. In this event the fee must be paid before the information is processed and released. The 20 working day time limit for responses is suspended until receipt of payment. You will be informed if this is the case.
If you have made a request for information held by the Trust - we will contact you as soon as possible if we need any further information to enable us to answer your request. If we don't need any further information we will respond to you within the statutory timescale of 20 working days following the date on which the request was received.

If you have any further queries or concerns then please do not hesitate to contact us.

With best regards,

Alan Larn.

Alan Larn | communications officer (Freedom of Information) | communications department
Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Nethermayne | Essex | SS16 5NL
01268 524900 ext 2992
[Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust request email]

safe  caring  excellent  …together

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FOI, Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Dear Mr Buckwell,

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request dated 13 March 2019, which has been handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
Your request and our response are as follows:
 
1. Can you specify how many patients under the age of 18 have been treated for knife injuries in your Trust since 2013. Can you give a break down by age and sex.

Our response: The number of patients below the age of 18 treated for knife injuries from January to October 2019 is 14 (fourteen).

The number of female patients was below five. Please note that under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, any data that is below five would be deemed identifiable under section 40(2) of the Act. Releasing the requested information would risk making it possible to identify the individuals concerned.

The requested information is therefore exempt from disclosure under section 40 (Personal Information) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), as the information constitutes data as of a third party.

Section 40(2) provides that personal data about third parties is exempt information if one of the conditions set out in section 40(3) is satisfied. Under the FOIA, disclosure of this information would breach the fair processing principles contained in the Data Protection Act 2018/General Data Protection Regulation where it would be unfair to that person.

We are unable to confirm the number of male patients, as this would make it easy to calculate the number of female patients.

The age breakdown is as follows:

Below 15: Fewer than five.
Aged 15: 5 (five).
Aged 16: Fewer than five.
Aged 17: 5 (five).

The female patients were younger than 16.

These patients were identified from a survey given to those attending A&E as a result of knife injuries. The electronic data recording sytem for the Emergency department changed in October 2018, and the requested information is not collected on the new system.

2. Over the same period can you tell me how many staff while at work in Trust hospitals have been threatened with a knife or similar sharp object, or attacked by people using knives or similar sharp object.

Our response: 5 (five) incidents.

3. How many staff or visitors (ie not patients) to Trust hospitals have required treatment following an attack in a hospital.

Our response: 0 (none required treatment).

4. How many times have police been called to hospitals in the trust area to deal with incidents involving violent behaviour of patients or hospital visitors in each year from 2013 to present?

Our response: 196 times.

I hope that the response that the Trust has provided is satisfactory, however if you are dissatisfied with the way in which your Freedom of Information request has been dealt with you can request an internal review. Please email [email address] within 40 working days with clarification of what you would like to be reviewed. We will aim to provide a review response within 20 working days.

If you remain dissatisfied, you have the right under section 50 of the Act to apply to the Information Commissioner to seek resolution to the matter. Further details can be found on their website: http://www.informationcommissioners.gov.....

Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015 – General statement of compliance

The Trust for its part is happy for you to reuse any of the information supplied to you in compliance with the Open Government Licence (OGL) terms:  Please click here for further details http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents... .  We do not permit the forwarding or sale of staff/departmental contact details and a specific Re-use of Information Regulations request is required for such purposes.

If relevant, you will need the permission of other information owners.  This can occur when you receive a document which is co-authored or where the ownership lies with another organisation.  Provision under both the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Environmental Information Regulations 2004 does not entitle you to re-use the information without appropriate permissions.  Use must be in compliance with an Open Government Licence or other agreed terms.

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Kind regards,

Alan Larn | communications officer (Freedom of Information) | communications department Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Nethermayne | Essex | SS16 5NL
01268 524900 ext 2992
[Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust request email]

safe  caring  excellent  …together

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