Last month hospitals in England saw more than 400 new cases of women and girls who have been subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM).
The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) has today published the first official figures on the number of patients who have undergone FGM seen in hospitals in England.
In September 2014 NHS trusts reported seeing 467 women and girls newly identified as having been subjected to FGM.
The data also showed that a further 1,279 patients who had previously been identified as having been subjected to FGM were being treated (either for something related to FGM or for any other reason) at the end of September 2014.
The number of patients who have previously been identified as having a history of FGM but who are no longer being treated by the NHS was not recorded.
According to the HSCIC: "These initial figures are a first step towards understanding how many females have been subject to FGM, which is a crime in the UK."
HSCIC chair Kingsley Manning said: "Having accurate data about this crime is an important step in helping prevent its occurrence in the future.
"The information will support the Department of Health in their FGM prevention programme, and we hope to expand the dataset over time so that it provides a more complete picture across a wider variety of care settings."
More on Parentdish: What is FGM and what can you do if you know someone you think is at risk?