Sandwell hospital trust sees most knife and gun victims

Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Sandwell General in West Bromwich and City Hospital in Birmingham, handled 358 stabbing incidents and 15 gunshot patients from 2011 to 2014 – a total of 373.

In all there were 640 stab victims and 62 gunshot patients (702 in all) at hospitals in the Black Country and Staffordshire area in that period.

The figures came from a Freedom of Information request by the Express & Star and includes data from Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital, Dudley's Russells Hall Hospital, Walsall Manor Hospital, Stafford Hospital and Cannock Chase Hospital.

Russells Hall Hospital treated the largest number of gunshot wounds since 2011 with 16. This was closely followed by Stafford Hospital (15) and Sandwell and West Birmingham Trust (15). Chief executive of Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust Toby Lewis said: "The number of patients we treat with these injuries represent a tiny percentage of the total number of patients treated, so they do not represent a particular strain on our resources. All local A&Es are under pressure and we play our part, as do others locally.

"If the patient arrives by ambulance then the decision of which hospital to use depends on West Midlands Ambulance Service. Otherwise both our emergency departments are capable of treating these injuries." New Cross Hospital was the only facility to see a year on year rise in stabbing incidents.

In 2011/12 there were 39, then 47 in 2012/13 and 70 in 2013/14. Gwen Nuttall, chief operating officer for The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust said: "The trust works closely with the police with regard to any incident that involves gun or knife crime."

Stafford Hospital saw its bloodiest year in 2012/13. Of the 36 stab patients it has dealt with since 2011 21 came in that 12 month period. It then dropped by 14 to 21 for the year 2013/14.

Walsall Manor Hospital handled the most gunshot victims in a single year with seven in 2012/13.

The news comes in the same week that anti-knife campaigners launched two surrender bins the in the West Midlands.

On Thursday the parents of murdered schoolgirl Christina Edkins unveiled a knife-amnesty facility at Tesco Fiveways in Edgbaston.

The 16-year-old was was stabbed as she sat on the No 9 bus in March last year while travelling to Leasowes High School in Halesowen.

A day earlier, Sarah Edmondson and Frances Harrison, the widow and step-daughter of former Police and Crime Commissioner Bob Jones, launched a knife amnesty campaign in Whitmore Reans.

Mr Jones, who died last week suddenly, had spearheaded a drive to get knives off the street.

The surrender bin is just yards from the scene of a double stabbing in April where two men received knife injuries after being asked for cigarettes.