Revellers often need help after drinking too much alcohol

Medics at the University Hospital of Wales who compile data from patients with assault injuries say the majority are drink-related.

The information is passed onto police who target binge drinking problem areas in Cardiff.

Figures for the scheme, the first in the UK, show 1,000 fewer assault cases.

The NHS spends �1.7bn every year treating alcohol related injuries that result from fights and accidents, and the Home Office has piloted the project for the past 18 months at the UHW.

Now police have access to information that tells them where violence is escalating and they can intervene at an earlier stage Roy Simmons formerly of Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust

Information, such as the nature of the injury, where it happened and what time, is passed onto police in order for officers to establish any particular trouble hot-spots.

Patient identity is not revealed and none of the information from the hospital is used in investigating individual crimes.

It allows police to look at the frequency of violent crimes in certain areas and act.

Staff estimate that the approach has resulted in 1,000 fewer assaults a year. Previously around 4,000 cases a year were dealt with.

The figures from the pilot have been released as longer drinking hours are introduced in the UK.

Drunken assaults account for the majority of A&E admissions

Professor Jon Shepherd from the hospital said: "There has been a 25% fall in assaults and undoubtedly a major part of that is alcohol related violence in men and women.

"I would say the majority of those assaults are alcohol related," he said.

Other police forces across the UK are now looking at the scheme following its success in order to set up similar projects.

Staff in the UHW's accident and emergency department deal with 120,000 patients every year, making it one of the busiest trauma units in the UK.

Extra officers

"The data is extremely valuable to police as many alcohol-related incidents are never reported to them," Roy Simmons formerly of Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust.

"If someone is attacked with a bottle, they may be embarrassed, or think that there's no point going to the police because they don't know their attacker.

Debate continues about the effect of 24-hour licensing on drink habits

"Now police have access to information that tells them where violence is escalating and they can intervene at an earlier stage."

He said that the scheme has helped reduce the number of casualties admitted to accident and emergency on the weekends.

"It's a quid pro quo. If the police reduce the number of assaults, fewer people turn up at the emergency and accident department, and this allows us to change our allocation of resources," he said.

South Wales Police said that the scheme had proved effective.

"The close working relationship between South Wales Police and the University Hospital of Wales on the project has proved extremely successful," said Catherine Llewellyn from South Wales Police.

"This, in addition to a range of measures such as pedestrianised areas, improved links with licensees and extra officers drafted into the city centre on the weekend have contributed to Cardiff now being one of the safest cities in the UK," she added.