Protecting lives: Confronting the hidden crisis of accidental harm in the UK.
Every year, tens of thousands of people across the UK lose their lives in accidents, and hundreds of thousands more are seriously injured. Each injury has the capacity to permanently alter a person’s life, as well as the people around them. Each death is a tragedy.
Yet despite the scale of harm they cause, and the number of accidental injuries and deaths, accidents rarely receive the sustained attention they need. Too often they are viewed as isolated incidents or unfortunate events, rather than part of a broader and preventable pattern of risk.
RoSPA's Annual Review of Accidents brings together the latest national data to provide a clearer picture of accidental harm in the UK. By examining trends in deaths and injuries, the report aims to highlight where risks are increasing, who is most affected, and where action is needed to keep people safe.
“Accidents devastate lives in an instant. 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.
By keeping a close eye on trends, learning from patterns of injury, and acting on the evidence, we can help ensure that individuals, communities, and the wider society are better protected from the consequences of accidental injury.”
RoSPA's Annual Review of Accidents report
Accidents remain one of the leading causes of preventable harm across peoples’ lives, contributing substantially to avoidable hospital admissions and long-term disability. At their most dangerous, they cut lives short, leaving loved ones and communities grieving. Understanding the patterns, causes, and settings of accidents is essential in developing effective prevention strategies, allocating resources efficiently, and reducing avoidable harm.
This report provides a systematic analysis of hospital admissions and mortality data related to accidents.
This review aims to support policymakers, practitioners, prevention specialists and others in positions of power to prioritise action, design interventions, and track progress towards a safer society. Ultimately, it reflects RoSPA’s ongoing commitment to reducing accidental harm, preventing avoidable injury, and promoting safer lives for all.
By committing to annual publication, RoSPA reinforces its mission to monitor, prevent, and reduce accidents, while ensuring that evidence-based insights remain at the heart of accident prevention strategies across the UK.
Key findings
Accidents are causing harm on a huge scale
· An estimated 23,000 people lost their lives in the UK in 2023 – bigger than the size of the O2 arena
· Almost 900,000 were admitted to hospital because of accidents in the UK in 2023/24 – larger than the population of San Francisco passing through our NHS in a single year
They are also growing as a cause of harm and death
· There was an 8% rise in accidental death rates and a 3% increase in the accident-related hospital admissions rate over just one year
· The rate of deaths caused by falls has increased by 12% over one year and 34% over two years
· Accidental poisoning deaths in the UK increased by 10% per capita in one year
· Hospital admissions for accidental poisonings also rose, increasing by a rate of 6% in Great Britain between 2022/23 and 2023/24
Where you live affects your risk of accidents
· Scotland is the most dangerous country in the UK in terms of deaths caused by accidents, followed by Wales, Northern Ireland and England. People in Scotland were 62% more likely to die in an accident than people in England.
· People were more than twice as likely to die of an accident in the North East, in Wales or in Scotland than they are in London.
Deprivation is closely linked to accidental deaths and injury
· In England, most deprived areas had 87% higher fatal accident rates than least deprived areas
· Those in the most deprived half of the country were 7% more likely to be admitted to hospital in 2023/24 than those in the least deprived half of the country
· Those in the 10% most deprived were 21% more likely to be admitted that those in the 10% least deprived
· People classed in the bottom half of deprivation were 33% more likely to die in Great Britain in an accident
· The top 10% most deprived people were also 89% more likely to die than the 10% least deprived
Discover key insights from RoSPA’s Annual Review of Accidents, analysing trends, causes and inequalities in accidental harm to guide effective prevention and build a safer society.
Appendices
- Appendix 1 - Cause of deaths
- Appendix 2 - Hospital admissions