Region takes lead in dog-bite league table

ALARMING figures show the North-West recorded the highest number of people in the country needing hospital treatment resulting from injuries caused by dogs.

The region also had the largest number of hospital admissions relating to bug bites, according to data from the NHS Information Centre.

The North-West Strategic Health Authority revealed 1,089 people from May, 2010, to April, 2011, were required to stay in hospital or were seen by accident and emergency departments after a dog bite.

In April of this year, local teenager Lauren Heffron was savaged by a bull terrier in Alexandra Park, leading to fears she would suffer permanent scarring.

Before that, an eight-year-old boy needed stitches after being attacked by a German Shepherd in Werneth Park.

And in May, 2010, police officers discovered a man had been assaulted.

He was taken to Royal Oldham Hospital where he was treated for dog-bite injuries to his face.

National figures revealed April as having the most cases relating to injuries caused by dogs of any month in the last two years, and the North-West was the worst affected.

NHS Information Centre chief executive Tim Straughan said: “Our statistics show that the summer is a seasonal hotspot for admissions to hospital for injuries caused by dogs, coupled with a 5 per cent rise overall for such admissions between the latest and previous 12–month period.

“However, the same timeframe also saw an increase in admissions for injuries inflicted by other creatures — from bugs and horses to cows and pigs.”

In the 12 months to April, 574 people in the region needed hospital treatment after being bit or stung by a non-venomous insect or anthropod.

The Pennine Acute Trust, which runs hospitals in Oldham, Bury, Rochdale and North Manchester, was unable to identify the number of admissions for dog or bug bites at Royal Oldham Hospital.