Home injury statistics in Scotland

We recently released our new report Bridging the gap: injury surveillance 2020 which considers newly-released data from Information Services Division (ISD), which is part of the new Public Health Scotland. Every year, we analyse data from ISD in relation to unintentional injuries and more specifically home injuries in order to see how injury rates in Scotland are changing.

The report shows that unintentional injury fatality rates and hospital admission rates are increasing and are above the five-year average calculated across 2013/14 – 2017/18.  Specifically for the home last year, there has been a five per cent increase in unintentional injury admissions.

Home injury admissions for children under the age of five, however, are decreasing which is very promising news. Last year saw a 20 per cent decrease in admission rates from unintentional injuries in the home which suggests that campaigns like our Keeping Kids Safe in the Home Project, as well as campaigns such as Family Safety Week, Child Safety Week and the Safe Tea Campaign are making a welcome difference across Scotland. You can find more information on initiatives which are helping improve outcomes for Scotland on the Unintentional Harm and Injury hub.

Accidents to those over the age of 65 continue to be a concern. Last year, there was an eight per cent increase in admission rates from unintentional injuries within the home environment. This is an increase that we are concerned with. Accidents place a major burden on the NHS as well as causing a devastating impact on both the person who has been injured and also on their families and friends. We are even more concerned during the COVID-19 pandemic which has meant that people are at home more than ever, increasing the risk and likelihood of a home accident.

This is why we launched our campaign Accident Free, Avoid A&E which aims to take pressure off frontline health services by providing advice and information to help keep everyone free from serious accidental injury whilst they are at home.

Moving forward, we will be trialling a webinar for the public to learn about home safety. Look out for information on this free webinar via our Twitter account @RoSPAScotland and the Community Safety Scotland group on Facebook.

By Carlene McAvoy, community safety development manager at RoSPA in Scotland

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