Tayside has the highest rate of people being admitted to hospital following an assault in Scotland, new figures have revealed.
The new stats, from Public Health Scotland (PHS) show the admission rate of 51.2 per 100,000 people in the area is significantly higher than all other health board areas.
It is also well above the national average.
The statistics showed there were a total of 214 assault admissions in 2021/22, including 31 involving a sharp object.
It’s the first time NHS Tayside has topped the table for emergency admissions following assaults.
The 214 assaults which led to hospital care in Tayside is also the highest in the area in a decade.
The PHS report also showed there were six deaths from assault in Tayside in 2021.
That’s a rate of 1.4 per 100,000, which is also the joint highest in Scotland, along with Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
The figures also showed Fife to be in fourth place, with 37.6 per 100,000 admitted to A&E following an assault.
Four deaths occurred in Fife from assault.
Glasgow was second in the table with an admission rate of 41.9 per 100,000 people, followed by Lanarkshire with 38.6 per 100,000.
‘We need to see an urgent improvement’
Scottish Conservative North East MSP Maurice Golden said: “It’s very concerning that Tayside appears to have become the assault capital of Scotland.
“The fact more emergency admissions per head occurred here than anywhere else should be a huge wake-up call to authorities.
“Hospital staff have enough to endure without having to deal with all of these avoidable admissions, and police in the area clearly have a bigger job than ever in attempting to deal with this.
“There will be a number of reasons for the rise in admissions of this type across Tayside.
“One of those will be a justice system that has just been too soft on criminals for too long, meaning sufficient punishment and deterrence measures are not in place, and haven’t been for some time.
“For the sake of these victims, and society in general, we need to see an urgent improvement in these statistics.”
‘Scotland takes a public health approach’
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Tackling any form of violence is a key priority.
“Scotland takes a public health approach to tackling violence which focuses on tackling the root causes of violence rather than just treating the symptoms.
“The Scottish Government has invested more than £24 million in violence reduction since 2008, including over £2 million during 2022-23.
“We continue to support the work of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, Medics Against Violence, Mentors in Violence Prevention, and No Knives Better Lives and Police Scotland Youth Volunteers.
“Our partnership work continues to target and support key groups who are disproportionally affected by unintentional harm in Scotland to raise awareness and focus initiatives to support those who are most at risk, including older people, young children and those living in areas of increased deprivation.”
Conversation