Interim guidance has been released ahead of a consultation to take place next month on the reporting of knife wounds.

Until then, hospitals must tell police of admissions where a person has suffered an injury in a violent attack with a knife, blade, or other sharp instrument.

The guidance states officers should not be informed where an injury is accidental or as a result of self-harm.

Identifying details of the patient should also not be passed on to police at the stage of initial contact.

The move has been taken to help officers assess the risk posed by members of the public armed with knives.

It is also hoped quick reporting will help to prevent further incidents.

Where a stab victim cannot give consent because they are unconscious or refuse, the guidance states "information can still be disclosed if there are grounds for believing this is justified in the public interest or disclosure is required by law."

Executive director of nursing at South Tyneside Hospital, Dave Shilton, said: "When dealing with admissions in relation to knife wounds we would apply the guidance as issued by the General Medical Council.

"When the guidance came into effect we sent it out to medical staff, in particular those in accident and emergency, who find themselves dealing with those kinds of situations.

"Obviously we work within the confines of the guidance on what we are allowed to pass on.

"We have a system which we can refer to, which allows us to pass on information where there is a suspicion of a crime being committed, or where there is a possibility there is a danger to the public."

The news has been welcomed by Northumbria Police.

Last month the force launched its Tackling Knives campaign aimed at taking knives off the regions streets.

And the Gazette's own Knives Ruin Lives campaign has highlighted the misery they can cause.

Superintendent Jim Napier, from South Tyneside Area Command, said: "We fully support the GMC's guidance which encourages hospitals to notify police of all patients with stab wounds.

"The aim is to build up a coherent database of information whereby all patients who are the victim of knife or gunshot wounds will be recorded.

"It is alarming that the annual number of hospital admissions for knife injuries has risen in recent years from 3,000 to 5,000.

"And when information is not shared between partners it can be more difficult to establish a true picture of serious crime and formulate an effective response to it.

"Information on knife-related injuries provided by medical staff in A&E departments will balance patient confidentiality with the wider need of society and to assist police in the investigation of knife related crime.

"Inevitably there will be times when the requests of individuals for anonymity are at odds with the needs of our communities to protect them, and in these instances greater good may well be more important than individual choice."