Agenda item

To receive an update on the strategic approach and action plan to reduce the rate of hospital admissions in children 0-14 years to the same or better than the rate for England.

The Board received a progress report in relation to its Strategic Objective No. 1 “To tackle childhood accidents”, specifically to reduce the rate of hospital admissions in children 0-14 years to the same or better than the rate for England. The Board had received an earlier report in November 2018 when it had agreed that a task and finish group be formed to:

a)    obtain and analyse further data sets to better understand childhood accidents by ward, age, gender and type of injury through; and

b)    develop an action plan to reduce the rate of hospital admissions in children 0-14 years to the same or better than the rate for England.

Consequently a multi-agency Childhood Accident Task and Finish Group had been established to complete this work.

The data obtained by the group showed that the rate of hospital admissions caused by unintentional and deliberate injuries in children (aged 0-4 North Tyneside) had reduced to 138.1 per 10,000 (2017/18) and this was not significantly different to the England rate (121.2 per 10,000) and better when compared with the North East regional benchmark. While the hospital admission rate (111.3 per 10,000) for children aged 0-14 in North Tyneside was still higher than the England rate (96.4 per 10,000) the trend showed a reduction on the previous year. Further data obtained from the 111 service, A&E Departments and hospital admissions gave an indication of the wards from where the majority of cases came from and the most common causes of injury. Falls are the most frequent accident and reported in North Tyneside children aged 0-5 and 0-14.

The Board were presented with the North Tyneside Accident Prevention Action Plan 2018-2020 which set out the strategic approach to preventing childhood accidents, based on the evidence of what worked and delivered by a range of partners.  In 2018/19 borough wide evidence-based campaigns on accident prevention across community settings had been delivered, the Tyne and Wear Fire & Rescue Service had delivered SafetyWorks accident prevention to 2000 children and funding had been obtained to pilot additional safety equipment for families living in the Chirton and Riverside Wards, the areas with the highest incidence of accidents.

In the future, support to communities and households at greatest risk would be prioritised, health visiting would include comprehensive injury and accident prevention component from January 2020; the Riverside and Chirton home safety equipment scheme would be evaluated,    safety standards in outdoor play and leisure facilities would be maintained and work would be undertaken with the RNLI to co-ordinate messages around water safety.

The Board heard that the public health service did not deliver its programmes within play group or private nursery settings but childcare providers had a responsibility to provide safe environments under separate regulatory frameworks.

Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust indicated that it would be willing to work with officers to provide additional data relating to children from North Tyneside attending urgent care services in Newcastle.

The Board discussed the effectiveness of introducing 20mph speed limits in residential areas in terms of reducing the number of road traffic accidents. It was suggested that public health and highways officers should review the methods used by the Council in measuring and assessing traffic speeds and the associated risks to safety.

Resolved that (1) the report of the Childhood Accident Task and Finish Group be noted;

(2) the improved performance in terms of the rate of hospital admissions for childhood accidents in the 0-4 age group and 0-14 age range be noted;

(3) the multi-agency strategic approach to tackling childhood accidents, as set out in the report, be endorsed as an evidence based, proportionate approach  based on current system capacity and resources;

(4) the Public Health team continue to work with partners to routinely monitor the rates of childhood accidents and highlight any significant issues to the Health and Wellbeing Board, as appropriate; and

(5) the primary reporting arrangements on childhood accidents be the responsibility of the Children and Young Persons Strategic Partnership.