HC Deb 21 April 2004 vol 420 c546W
Tim Loughton

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many non-fatal accidents were recorded to have happened to children in England in each of the last five years. [165581]

Dr. Ladyman

The information is not available in the form requested. Estimates of the number of accidents are available from the health survey for England and are shown in the table. For children, aged two to 15, the annual accident rate per 100 persons for major and minor accidents from data for the three survey years 1995–97, aggregated together, and the two survey years 2001–02, aggregated together are shown. In the health survey, 'major accidents' include all those where a doctor was consulted or a hospital was visited, and 'minor accidents' include all accidents that caused pain or discomfort for over 24 hours.

Annual accident rate per 100 persons, 1995–97 and 2001–02, by age and sex
Annual accident rate per 100 children
Males 2 to 15-years-old Females 2 to 15-years-old
1995–97
Major accidents 31 22
Standard error 1.1 0.9
Minor accidents 216 144
Standard error 11.6 8.9
2001–02
Major accidents 26 19
Standard error 1.0 0.8
Minor accidents 226 174
Standard error 13.0 10.7
Bases
1995–97 7,365 7,365
2001–02 5,372 5,283