We exist because accidents are a leading cause of death, serious injury and disability for children and young people in the UK – and because many of these accidents can be prevented.
Death
Accidental injury is one of the biggest killers of children in the UK. It is second only to cancer. Last year, 300 children and young people died in accidents – almost six deaths every week.
Serious injury
Accidents put more children in hospital in the UK than any other cause. Last year, 120,000 children and young people were hospitalised – over 2,000 children each week.
Life-changing injuries
Some children are left permanently disabled or disfigured by accidents:
Those who suffer severe burns or scalds will require years of painful skin grafts. Despite the surgeon’s skills, they may still be scarred for life.
Children who suffer severe head injuries – for example in road accidents – will be left with permanent brain damage.
Children at greatest risk
Children from the poorest families are far more likely to die from accidents. They are also more likely to be admitted to hospital, and to be admitted with more severe injuries.
In fact, the poorest children are 13 times more likely to die in accidents. And they are three times more likely to be admitted to hospital with serious injuries.
The cost of children’s accidents
‘Unintentional injury represents a significant burden to the NHS, to local government and to the families and individuals affected by it’
Better safe than sorry, Audit Commission and Healthcare Commission, February 2007
Caring for a child who has been seriously injured can stop a parent from returning to education or work. It can plunge an already disadvantaged family further into poverty.
The NHS spends millions of pounds each year treating preventable childhood accidents. The Audit Commission reports that the cost of childhood visits to A&E alone is £146 million. It can cost as much as £250,000 to treat one severe bathwater scald.
Parents
“I learnt that the things I would have done could have put my baby in danger”
Accident prevention is often seen as common sense. Yet few parents know that a sparkler burns 10 times hotter than a kettle of boiling water. Or that a mug of coffee will scald a baby 15 minutes after it has been made.
And parents with poor literacy lack accessible information on what they can do to make their children safer.
Staff
Frontline staff who support families in their local communities may lack knowledge about:
the links between child development and children’s accidents
the main causes of serious childhood accidents
what works in preventing them.
Decision makers
Decision makers – who have so many issues to cover – need specialist advice and guidance to plan and deliver effective accident prevention programmes. They need information based on evidence of what really works.
Find out what we do to tackle these problems and make a difference to children and families.