§ Earl Howeasked Her Majesty's Government:
How injury surveillance is to be continued by the National Health Service following the closure of the Home Accident Surveillance System; and what information the public health observatories are collecting on consumer product involvement in accidental injuries. [HL2964]
§ Baroness Andrews:The report of the Accidental Injury Task Force identified a need to strengthen the surveillance of accidental injury at regional and local levels. The Home Accident Surveillance System data were not sufficiently complete to serve as the main tool for local National Health Service surveillance because they were based on a sample of 18 hospitals across the United Kingdom, and did not include injuries on the roads. We are taking forward local surveillance in discussions on the future roles of directors of public health and public health observatories. It is too soon to say whether public health observatories will collect data on product involvement in accidental injuries.
§ Earl Howeasked Her Majesty's Government:
How they will monitor the progress on accidental injury reduction targets in Our Healthier Nation without the Home Accident Surveillance System. [HL2965]
§ Baroness Andrews:Progress on the Our Healthier Nation target to reduce the death rate from accidents is monitored using data on registered deaths collected by the Office for National Statistics, and population estimates based on the 2001 census. Progress on the target to reduce serious injury from accidents is monitored using hospital inpatient data collected by the Department of Health, and population estimates. The Home Accident Surveillance System does not provide the information required for monitoring progress on the accidental injury targets and is not used for this purpose.