More than 1,000 10 to 19-year-olds were admitted to hospital with knife wounds in 2017/18. The NHS England figure, reveals 54% rise in the number of children and teenagers treated for injuries from knives over five years.
Hospital admissions for all injuries caused by an assault with a knife or a sharp object have gone up by almost a third since 2012-13, it has gone from 3,849 to 4,986 (2018). For ages 10 to 19, admissions were the largest increase with 656 admissions in 2012 up to 1,012 last year.
According to NHS England, doctors warned that high street sales of knives is helping to fuel the rise in stabbings and called on the retailers to do more to make it harder to buy weapons. One of England’s top trauma surgeons revealed that two people a day are admitted to hospital with a stab injury.
Prof Chris Moran, national clinical director for trauma, NHS England, said: “Violent crime destroys lives, devastates families, and diverts doctors’ time away from other essential patient care.
“Changes to NHS trauma services have saved an extra 1,600 lives in recent years, but hospital visits linked to knife crime and other violence is a major cause for concern and puts extra pressure on our expert staff.
“The NHS Long Term Plan sets out more improvements to emergency care services across the country, with more people able to get faster urgent care without the need for an overnight stay in hospital.
“However, far too many young people are able to buy knives on the high street, and we need councils and retailers to work together to stop this.”
Many high street stores are breaking the law by selling knives to young people with eight out of ten retailers in one part of the country found to have done this. Health service data shows there were 4,986 instances where people were treated for knife or sharp object injuries. Many of these people will need long term mental and physical impact care with the impact of their trauma.
Martin Griffiths, consultant trauma surgeon and lead for trauma surgery at The Royal London Hospital, said: “We see on average two stabbings every day. It’s a lot, but looking after people is what we do and we’re rightly proud of our hospital teams as world-leaders in the care that we give.
“But it doesn’t stop with us. A stabbing has relentless repercussions that stretch far beyond the victim.
“You never forget the sound a mother makes when given the devastating news that her child has died. I see the wasted opportunities of young people stuck on hospital wards with life-changing injuries. Friends don’t always visit, they carry on with their lives; and some will later join us.
“Since 2013, working with charity St Giles Trust we have successfully reduced retaliation violence and the number of young people returning to us with further violent injuries, down from over 45% to less than 1%. Our research shows that a targeted approach by the community may help break the cycle of youth violence.”
