Safer children, healthier lives: reducing the burden of serious accidents to children

COVID-19 has placed huge pressures on clinicians and front line practitioners across the UK. The focus has been, understandably, on the day to day challenges that the pandemic has brought. But lockdown measures have also put a spotlight on safety in the home – a place where we have all spent so much more time. This is one place where there may be fewer safeguards and less protection from the risks of serious injury, especially to young children. Preventable accidental injury remains a leading cause of death and acquired disability for children in the UK. Moreover, it affects deprived children more. Hospital admission rates from unintentional injuries among the under-fives are significantly higher for children from the most deprived areas compared with those from the least deprived. To give every child the best start in life we need to create a better understanding and awareness of the injuries. To achieve this we need to prioritize learning from injury data and lived experience. We need to be linking with other partners and professionals to build strong collaborations for injury prevention. By working together and taking action we should be leading the way towards safer homes, roads and communities where children can become skilled for life, not scarred for life. This short article highlights what healthcare professionals working with children and families need to know about accidents and accident prevention in a higher income setting.