HEALTH officials are to play a key role in understanding crime in Darlington.
A meeting of Darlington Primary Care Trust's board heard about the impact of crime on health services.
Nationally, £1.7bn a year is spent on the consequences of alcohol abuse, while 116,000 NHS staff were the victims of aggression last year, and injuries and damage to NHS property totalled £500m.
A new duty has been placed on the trust to take a leading role with the town's Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership, which tries to pinpoint the causes of crime, anti-social behaviour and the extent of drug taking.
The board nominated non-executive director Bill Dixon to take the leading role in the community safety initiative.
The partnership, involving the trust, borough council, youth justice agencies and the police, is to embark on a review to analyse the nature and extent of crime and develop strategies.
The trust also accepted responsibility for managing the Darlington Drug and Alcohol Action Team.
Mr Dixon said: "This makes a great deal of organisational sense. It is always better to be the architects of your own future and there is a huge correlation between drink, drugs and health issues."
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