Information which has been provided includes a breakdown for children aged 15 and under, 16 to 17 and those aged 18 and over. It is not possible using the hospital episode statistics dataset to determine whether incidents have occurred in schools.
The data provided include all activity in national health service hospitals England and activity performed in the independent sector in England commissioned by the English NHS.
Reference should be made to the notes and clinical codes when interpreting the data.
15 and under 16 and 17 18 and over Other Total Assault by blunt objects 1996-97 165 172 2,503 56 2,896 1997-98 137 149 2,424 44 2,754 1998-99 105 132 2,172 6 2,415 1999-2000 120 128 2,364 5 2,617 2000-01 126 99 2,223 5 2,453 2001-02 139 136 2,342 11 2,628 2002-03 152 144 2,450 5 2,751 2003-04 139 147 2,683 2 2,971 2004-05 159 166 2,755 3 3,083 2005-06 224 175 2,944 2 3,345 2006-07 150 209 3,181 1 3,541 Assault by sharp objects 1996-97 114 247 3,529 52 3,942 1997-98 112 239 3,466 58 3,875 1998-99 88 191 3,370 18 3,667 1999-2000 118 248 3,738 21 4,125 2000-01 130 264 3,842 13 4,249 2001-02 132 283 4,198 29 4,642 2002-03 95 237 3,937 6 4,275 2003-04 110 296 4,358 10 4,774 2004-05 143 300 4,627 2 5,072 2005-06 169 374 4,949 4 5,496 2006-07 179 441 5,097 3 5,720 Gun shot wounds 1996-97 333 134 606 11 1,084 1997-98 260 112 613 9 994 1998-99 279 102 604 2 987 1999-2000 362 133 674 1 1,170 2000-01 287 140 693 2 1,122 2001-02 321 147 949 3 1,420 2002-03 253 163 870 1 1,287 2003-04 267 123 978 2 1,370 2004-05 199 108 855 1 1,163 2005-06 155 117 960 1 1,233 2006-07 181 145 988 1 1,315 Notes: Assignment of Episodes to Years: Years are assigned by the end of the first period of care in a patient’s hospital stay Finished admission episodes: A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. Cause Code—Blunt object, Sharp object and Gunshot Wounds: The cause code is a supplementary code that indicates the nature of any external cause of injury, poisoning or other adverse effects. HES has used the following ICD-10 external cause codes when referring to gunshot wounds and assault by sharp and blunt objects. Blunt Object: Y00—Assault by blunt object Sharp Object: X99—Assault by sharp object Gunshot wound: W32.—Handgun discharge W33.—Rifle, shotgun and larger firearm discharge W34.—Discharge from other and unspecified firearms X72.—Intentional self-harm by handgun discharge X73.—Intentional self-harm by rifle, shotgun and larger firearm discharge X74.—Intentional self-harm by other and unspecified firearm discharge X93.—Assault by handgun discharge X94.—Assault by rifle, shotgun and larger firearm discharge X95.—Assault by other and unspecified firearm discharge Y22.—Handgun discharge, undetermined intent Y23.—Rifle, shotgun and larger firearm discharge, undetermined intent Y24.—Other and unspecified firearm discharge, undetermined intent Y35.0 Legal intervention involving firearm discharge Y36.4 War operations involving firearm discharge and other forms of conventional warfare Data Quality: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are compiled from data sent by over 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs) in England. The NHS information centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain. Assessing growth through time: HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. During the years that these records have been collected by the NHS there have been ongoing improvements in quality and coverage. These improvements in information submitted by the NHS have been particularly marked in the earlier years and need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. Some of the increase in figures for later years (particularly 2006-07 onwards) may be due to the improvement in the coverage of independent sector activity. Changes in NHS practice also need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. For example, a number of procedures may now be undertaken in outpatient settings and may no longer be accounted for in the HES data. This may account for any reductions in activity over time. Ungrossed Data: Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (ie the data are ungrossed). Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The NHS information centre for health and social care.