§ Mrs. GoldingTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the costs to the NHS for children's accidents(a) on the roads, (b) in the home, (c) in schools, and (d) in playgrounds for each year since 1987.
§ Mr. BowisThe information available is from a study conducted by the Child Accident Prevention Trust with financial support from the Department. The trust estimated that in 1990–91 the cost to national health service hospitals and the ambulance service in treating accidental injuries to children under age 16 was some £230 million. Full information of the location of the accidents was not available, but mortality statistics collected by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys shows that, of the 480 accidental deaths among children in 1991, 283—59 per cent.—were caused by motor vehicle traffic accidents.
§ Mrs. GoldingTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how much her Department has spent on measures designed to prevent children's accidents for each year since 1987.
§ Mr. BowisWithin the overall commitment of national health service staff and the Health Education Authority devoted to promoting children's health, a significant but unquantifiable proportion of their time is aimed at accident prevention. The Department has paid the following sums in grant aid to the Child Accident Prevention Trust under section 64 of the Public Health Act 1968:
853W
Financial Year Grant 1987–88 71,325 1988–89 93,500 1989–90 93,500 1990–91 106,050 1991–92 108,514 1992–93 103,000 1993–94 113,000