§ Dr. KumarTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the finding of the recent NAO report "A Safer Place to Work" that there is a significant disparity between the number of accidents logged in NHS trust accident and emergency reporting systems and the figures provided by trusts to the Department of Health. [120633]
§ Mr. HuttonThe National Audit Office (NAO) reported a 36 per cent. difference between data provided to the Department of Health by national health service trusts human resources departments and that from the health and safety leads.
NHS trusts accident and reporting systems are generally managed by human resources departments and are primarily concerned with data collection on accidents in relation to sickness absence. Trusts' health and safety leads collect data that are reportable under the "Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations" (RIDDOR) and "The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health" (COSHH) which require accidents to be reported only if they result in three days or more absence from work. The Department believes that this accounts for much of the difference in figures reported to the NAO.