The UK General Medical Council provides guidance on the reporting to police of gun and knife wounds.
The guidance describes a two-stage process:
- You should inform the police quickly whenever a person arrives with a gunshot wound or an injury from an attack with a knife, blade or other sharp instrument. This will enable the police to make an assessment of risk to the patient and others, and to gather statistical information about gun and knife crime in the area
- You should make a professional judgement about whether disclosure of personal information about a patient, including their identity, is justified in the public interest.