Staff at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital who quiz those injured in drink-related assaults have won a £12,000 grant to pay for the continuation of the surveys.

Earlier this year, staff at the hospital in Headington began collecting information from assault victims following the success of trials of the system at other hospitals around the country. The information is analysed before a summary is passed on to crime prevention agencies, including the police.

It is also passed to Nightsafe, the organisation set up two years ago by the Oxford Safer Communities Partnership, to tackle violent crime and binge drinking and improve the night-time economy of the city centre.

Dr Philip Hormbrey, the JR's emergency medicine consultant, will explain in London today how the scheme works, as 15 accident and emergency departments across the South East share the £250,000 grant.

Jonathan Shepherd, a facial surgeon at Cardiff Royal Infirmary, came up with the idea of carrying out the surveys because of the high number of patients brought to the casualty department on Friday and Saturday nights after alcohol-related incidents.

He devised a short questionnaire for patients to find out the circumstances.