Partnerships
Better health, lower crime: briefing for NHS and partner agencies
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Crime is a health issue. It affects the health of our communities and individuals within them directly and indirectly. Crime against health service staff, patients and property diverts resources away from health service provision. Reducing crime benefits health services.
Title: Better health, lower crime: briefing for NHS and partner agencies
Author: Jim McManus with additional material by David Mullett
Publisher: Nacro
Publication date: December 2001
Number of pages: 36
Availability: Download full report 
PDF 176Kb
This briefing from NACRO is an initial guide for health agencies which aims to explain why they should become involved in crime reduction.
It outlines the effects of crime on the health service in terms of:
- direct effects of crime on individual and public health
- indirect effects of crime and health inequalities on individual and public health
- as a determinant of illness along with other inequalities
- reducing the effectiveness of the health care system
- preventable health burdens such as drug dependency.
It explains the crime reduction context, partnership working, sets out the NHS Performance Assessment Framework, and gives guidance on information sharing and suggested strategies. Health action on crime and disorder will not only bring benefits to the health services but also contribute to success in other areas of public life that are closely bound up with crime: poverty, and social and health exclusion.
Download the full document Better health, lower crime PDF 167 Kb
Last update: Thursday, August 28, 2008