HC Deb 10 July 1992 vol 211 cc356-9W
Mr. Llwyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many road accident victims suffering from(a) fractures to the upper limbs, (b) head injuries, (c) fractures to the lower limbs and (d) whiplash injuries in Wales were still reporting problems one year after the accident: and if he will give a breakdown according to age category.

Mr. Gwilym Jones

The information is not available centrally.

Mr. Llwyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish figures showing the average length of hospital stay for patients suffering(a) fractures to the upper limbs, (b) fractures to the lower limbs and (c) whiplash injuries resulting from road accidents in Wales; and if he will give a break-down of the figures according to age category.

Mr. Gwilym Jones

The information given in the table is taken from hospital activity analysis, relating to patients treated in Welsh NHS hospitals during 1990.

Average length of stay (in days) by age and principal diagnosis
Age at discharge Fracture to upper limb (ICD9 810–819) Fracture to lower limb (ICD 820–829) Whiplash (ICD 847.0)
0.14 7.5 15.2 1
15.24 4.6 14.7 1.9
25–44 11.3 20.9 3.4

Attendances at accident and emergency out-patient departments, 1990–91 Road traffic accident victims attending accident and emergency departments as percentage of total new attendances at accident and emergency departments, 19901
New patients Total attendances Percentage
Clwyd 92,608 128,479 2.8
East Dyfed 56,939 78,812 2.3
Gwent 108,712 133,794 2.1
Gwynedd 49,097 60,293 2.9
Mid Glamorgan 145,524 212,666 1.6
Powys 26,768 41,910 n.a.
South Glamorgan 85,213 97,100 2.5
West Glamorgan 102,402 132,844 22.8
Pembrokeshire 25,586 37,708 n.a.
1 Data prodived by directors of public health medicine for annual review purpose
2 April 1990-March 1991.
n.a = not available.

Mr. Llwyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the total number of(a) fatalities and (b) car accidents affecting (i) car occupants, (ii) pedestrians" (iii) pedal cyclists and (iv) motorcyclists involved in road accidents in Wales in each of the last five years.

Sir Wyn Roberts

The table gives the numbers of fatalities and all casualties for the requested groups. Information on the number of car accidents affecting different road user groups cannot be derived.

1987 1988 1989 1990 1991
Fatalities:
Car occupants2 101 80 110 119 109
Pedestrians 69 76 76 86 73
Pedal cyclists 10 10 10 6 9
Motor cyclists3 36 41 28 23 19
Others 4 19 7 10 17
All fatalities 220 226 231 244 227

Age at discharge Fracture to upper limb (ICD9 810–819) Fracture to lower limb (ICD 820–829) Whiplash (ICD 847.0)
45.64 11.7 21.5 2.5
65.74 16.0 33.0 2.0
75+ 18.8 26.4 1
All ages 9.3 19.2 2.7
1 No cases recorded.

The information is based on cases recorded as road traffic accident victims. These may be understated as not all hospitals provide full details relating to discharges and deaths.

Mr. Llwyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people were admitted to casualty departments in hospitals in Wales in each health authority area last year; and how many of such admissions had resulted from road accidents in each instance.

Mr. Gwilym Jones

The available information is given in the table:

1987 1988 1989 1990 11991
All casualties:
Car Occupants2 7,908 8,830 9,552 10,182 9,526
Pedestrians 2,536 2,725 2,696 2,721 2,501
Pedal cyclists 842 805 945 873 784
Motor cyclists3 1,867 1,683 1,728 1,471 1,172
Others 1,130 1,118 1,241 1,181 1,082
All 14,283 15,161 16,162 16,428 15,065
1 Provisional.
2 Includes users of invalid tricycles, three-wheelers and purpose-built taxis.
3 Includes users of scooters, mopeds and motor cycle combinations.

Mr. Llwyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish an estimated figure for the economic cost of injury accidents on Welsh roads during each of the last five years.

Sir Wyn Roberts

Economic costs of injury road accidents are not calculated separately for Wales.

Estimates derived from Department of Transport average costs applied to Welsh accident figures are given in the table:

Estimated cost of injury road accidents1
£ million
1987 230
1988 240
1989 240
1990 250
1991 220
1At June 1990 prices.

Mr. Llwyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many hospital beds are allocated per day on average in each health authority area, for victims of road accidents.

Mr. Gwilym Jones

Hospital beds are not allocated specifically for victims of road accidents. Such patients are treated in beds allocated to the specialty appropriate to each case.