RoSPA NI : Home Safety : Statistics

Admissions to Northern Ireland Hospitals Staying at least one night
These figures are the number of people who have been admitted to hospital due to a home accident. Thousands of others who have received medical treatment for their injuries at Accident and Emergency, Out Patients and General Practice are not included. It is estimated that out of every 7 people attending Accident and Emergency because of a home accident, only 1 person is actually admitted to hospital overnight. So in reality the number of people attending A&E due to a home accident could be more than 70,000 per year.

The Transport Research Laboratory has calculated that the costs associated with accidental injury is on average £10,000 per casualty. This adds up to a cost of around £90 million per year in Northern Ireland alone.

YEAR	CAUSE	MALE	FEMALE	0-15	16-64	65+	AGE UNKNOWN	TOTAL
2005	Falls	745	1373	338	478	1302		2118
	Burns	67	56	30	50	43		123
	Scalds	7	2	5	3	1		9
	Poisoning	312	391	56	611	34	2	703
	Others	2009	2115	657	1893	1574		4124
	TOTAL	3140	3937	1086	3035	2954	2	7077
2004	Falls	787	1282	358	456	1255		2069
	Burns	40	33	21	37	15		73
	Scalds	3	6	7	2	0		9
	Poisoning	418	488	85	771	50		906
	Others	2992	2990	1086	2560	2336		5982
	TOTAL	4240	4799	1557	3826	3656		9039
2003	Falls	894	1453	406	547	1394		2347
	Burns	62	37	24	49	26		99
	Scalds	8	7	8	4	3		15
	Poisoning	502	541	97	895	51		1043
	Others	2810	3413	1134	2633	2456		6223
	TOTAL	4276	5451	1669	4128	3930		9727
2002	Falls	937	1539	451	578	1447		2476
	Burns	57	45	21	54	27		102
	Scalds	10	4	12	2	0		14
	Poisoning	486	647	118	979	36		1133
	Others	2244	2672	1007	2061	1848		4916
	TOTAL	3734	4907	1609	3674	3358		8641
2001	Falls	1041	1835	508	651	1717		2876
	Burns	77	51	36	56	36		128
	Scalds	24	11	30	3	2		35
	Poisoning	644	855	169	1287	43		1499
	Others	1860	2359	775	1979	1465		4219
	TOTAL	3646	5111	1518	3976	3263		8757
2000	Falls	1231	2123	725	713	1916		3354
	Burns	82	51	37	63	33		133
	Scalds	18	11	14	9	6		29
	Poisoning	575	785	182	1132	46		1360
	Others	1929	2333	881	1919	1462		4262
	TOTAL	3835	5303	1839	3836	3463		9138
1999	Falls	1250	2096	729	733	1884		3346
	Burns	73	49	27	60	35		122
	Scalds	20	13	25	5	3		33
	Poisoning	612	791	195	1160	48		1403
	Others	2609	3077	797	2591	2297	1	5686
	TOTAL	4564	6026	1773	4549	4267	1	10590
YEAR	CAUSE	MALE	FEMALE	0-15	16-64	65+	AGE UNKNOWN	TOTAL
1998	Falls	1395	2412	873	882	2052		3807
	Burns	78	60	53	51	34		138
	Scalds	21	9	22	6	2		30
	Poisoning	744	887	259	1334	38		1631
	Others	2678	2982	690	2553	2416	1	5660
	TOTAL	4916	6350	1897	4826	4542	1	11266
1997	Falls	1417	2544	1032	793	2136		3961
	Burns	80	61	48	56	37		141
	Scalds	13	18	28	3	0		31
	Poisoning	872	1008	347	1482	51		1880
	Other	3129	2984	1586	2793	1734		6113
	TOTAL	5511	6615	3041	5127	3958		12126
1996	Falls	1555	2507	1187	848	2027		4062
	Burns	62	42	40	45	19		104
	Scalds	18	8	21	3	2		26
	Poisoning	868	934	353	1417	32		1802
	Others	2781	2698	1349	2403	1727		5479
	TOTAL	5284	6189	2950	4716	3807		11473
1995	Falls			1224	878	1919		4021
	Burns			61	55	17		133
	Scalds			33	9	1		43
	Poisoning			386	1467	35		1880
	Others			945	1551	640		3136
	TOTAL			2649	3954	2612		9213
1994	Falls			1203	812	1897		3912
	Burns			55	44	15		114
	Scalds			49	18	29		96
	Poisoning			409	1376	34		1819
	Others			579	956	392		1927
	TOTAL			2295	3206	2367		7868
1993	Falls			1061	964	1925		3950
	Burns			70	38	14		122
	Scalds			48	20	17		85
	Poisoning			407	1402	42		1851
	Others			368	616	272		1256
	TOTAL			1954	3040	2270		7264
1992	Falls			978	756	1698		3432
	Burns			87	56	13		156
	Scalds			44	11	9		64
	Poisoning			417	1391	60		1868
	Others			351	413	167		931
	TOTAL			1877	2627	1947		6451
1991	Falls			1063	645	1362	36	33160
	Burns			88	42	27		157
	Scalds			41	6	3		50
	Poisoning			506	1524	108	2	2140
	Others			282	299	117	2	700
	TOTAL			1980	2516	1617	40	6153

Source: Regional Information Branch (Patient Administration System)

Figures run from April to March so each section is from April of that year through to March of the next.

It is estimated that out of every 7 people attending Accident and Emergency because of a home accident, only 1 person is actually admitted to hospital overnight. So in reality the number of people attending A&E due to a home accident could be more than 70,000 per year.

Home Accident Deaths in Northern Ireland.

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