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People in the north of England are twice as likely to be killed in accidents than Londoners, with accidental deaths clearly linked to deprivation, a report has found.
The research, from safety charity the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), highlights vast regional differences in accidental deaths, which have also seen an overall increase.
The north-east is the most dangerous region for accidents in England, with a death rate of 44 per 100,000 people, compared to an average of 32 across the country, with the north-west in second place with a death rate of 38 per 100,000 people.
Scotland was the most dangerous of the devolved UK nations, with an even higher accidental death rate of 51 per 100,000, while Wales equalled the north-east of England, and Northern Ireland’s rate of 39 per 100,000 was also above the England average.
Meanwhile, London was the safest place to live in the UK, with an average of 19.5 deaths per 100,000 people.
Redcar and Cleveland, Middlesbrough, and Blackpool were among the local authorities with the highest accidental death rates in England and Wales, with people in the most deprived areas of England nearly twice as likely to die in an accident as those in the least deprived.
The data was released in RoSPA’s Annual Review of Accidents, and is based on 2023-24 hospital admissions data and 2023 mortality figures, which represent the most recent complete and quality-assured datasets currently available.
The report’s author, Matilda Smith, said that more research needed to be done to better understand the links between accidents and deprivation, adding: “It’s a real priority area for us to better understand why this is happening.”
“I think the findings of the report are really rather shocking,” she said. “It is an unfortunate truth that where you live, and the deprivation of your area, has an impact on the risk that you have in terms of whether or not you’re going to die in an accident.”
“It’s really concerning to see that the north of England in particular is experiencing so much of the burden of accidental deaths,” she added, “and what is also really clear is that deprivation is inherently linked to your risk, and that means that people living in poorer areas, more deprived areas, facing the realities of greater risk, and a greater risk of dying in really sudden, shocking and horrible accidents.”
Overall, there was an 8% increase in the rate of all accidental deaths, with falls, poisoning including from alcohol and narcotics, and road traffic collisions among the most common causes. Over a quarter of all accidental deaths were caused by poisonings, an increase of 10% per capita in one year.
Hospital admissions also rose by a rate of 3% in Great Britain, which included a 17% rate of increase in admissions caused by animals, and 6% by poisonings.
RoSPA found that an estimated 23,000 people – more than the capacity of the O2 Arena in London or the Co-op Arena in Manchester – lose their lives to accidents every year.
Meanwhile, almost 900,000 people were admitted to hospital as a result of accidents; the equivalent of the entire population of Devon.
“Accidents devastate lives in an instant,” said Becky Hickman, CEO of RoSPA. “They are often sudden, violent, and shocking, leaving families and communities to cope with consequences that can last a lifetime. What makes this devastation even harder to bear is the knowledge that so many of these incidents are entirely preventable.”
“Our Annual Review of Accidents shows we are still not doing enough to reduce avoidable harm, life-changing injuries and personal tragedies,” she added.
“From our roads to our workplaces, the homes we live in to where we spend our leisure time, people in Britain are at increasing and unacceptable risk of suffering a serious accident. And it is those who are already vulnerable – young children, the elderly, and people in deprived communities – who are in the greatest danger.”
The charity is urging the government to implement a National Accident Prevention Strategy to tackle accidents as a serious public health crisis, which it says would serve to ease the burden on both the economy, and the NHS.
Dr Sally-Anne Wilson, vice-president, Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM), said: “Emergency departments see first hand the rising impact of accidental injuries, particularly among older people. The patients I worry about most are those who fall from standing height, often in their own homes, and arrive in the ED with serious injuries such as hip or rib fractures. These seemingly simple accidents can have devastating consequences.
“We know that older people are disproportionately affected by crowding in emergency departments, and that delays transferring them to inpatient wards are linked with longer hospital stays and increased mortality. Prevention must be a priority.”
