INFORMATION RESOURCES ON AVOIDABLE INJURY
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National Policy and Guidance
Contents
Choosing Health/Delivering Choosing Health
Unintentional injury was identified as a key public health priority in the White Paper on public health Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation which set a national target for injury reduction:
- ‘To reduce the death rates from accidents by at least one fifth and to reduce the rate of serious injury from accidents by at least one tenth by 2010’ (Saving Lives)
Injuries are less prominent in the main text of the most recent White Paper Choosing Health although a summary of action in this area is included in the Summary Annex.
The Delivering Choosing Health delivery plan highlights how the Department of Health and the NHS, within the framework of government policies, will help more people make more healthy choices and reduce health inequalities. It outlines the priorities for delivery at national, regional and local levels and what will be done by whom and when. It brings into one place all of the actions on the White Paper commitments, alongside related Public Service Agreements and local targets to improve health. It describes how Government will drive forward delivery through:
- Government targets to improve health;
- New partnerships between industry, the voluntary sector and professional groups;
- new services delivered by local authorities and the NHS.
Preventing Accidental Injury: Priorities for Action (Accidental Injury Taskforce Reports)
In response to the national target set out in Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation the Chief Medical Officer established a Task Force to advice on priorities for action to meet the targets. In 2002, the Task Force published reports in three key areas together with an overview document:
- Preventing accidental injury: priorities for action (overview document)
- Prevention of childhood injury
- Measuring and monitoring injury
- Priorities for prevention (older people)
The Taskforce identified a number of priority areas for action:
| Priority Areas |
Headline Interventions |
| Falls at or near home |
- Referral of individuals to falls prevention programme
- Targeted exercise programmes for falls prevention
- Prevention and treatment of osteoporosis
- Home safety checks
|
| Road accidents |
- 20 mph speed limits in areas of higher pedestrian activity
- Local child pedestrian training schemes and safe travel plans
- Systematic road safety intervention in inner city areas
- Advice and assessment programmes for elderly car drivers
|
| Dwelling fires |
- Installation of smoke alarms by fire brigade
- Home fire risk assessments, safety checks and escape plans
- Target deprived groups, particularly children and older people in privately rented and temporary accommodation and households in which people smoke
|
| Play and recreation |
- Increase number of children undertaking cycle training and wearing cycle helmets
- Produce guidelines for safety in children’s sports
- Strengthen risk and safety education in schools
|
LDP Guidance
Each of the 28 Strategic Health Authorities in England have been required to produce a Local Delivery Plan (LDP) for the Department of Health. The aim of these LDPs is to map out how the NHS locally will improve services and deliver the targets identified in the NHS Plan.
The document National Standards, Local Action: Health and Social Care Standards and Planning Framework 2005/06–2007/08 sets out a standard-based planning framework for health and social care and standards for NHS health care to be used in planning, commissioning and delivering services. This Framework describes moving away from a system that is mainly driven by national targets to one in which:
- standards are the main driver for continuous improvements in quality;
- there are fewer national targets;
- there is greater scope for addressing local priorities;
- incentives are in place to support the system; and
- all organisations locally play their part in service modernisation.
A number of Core Standards, which are not optional, are identified. Of particular relevance to avoidable injury are standards within the First Domain (Safety) and Sixth Domain (Care Environment).
Local Area Agreement (LAA) Guidance
A Local Area Agreement sets out the priorities for a local area agreed between central government and a local area. Issues relating to avoidable injury and safety are addressed through all four blocks:
- Children and young people
- Healthier communities and older people
- Safer and stronger communities
- Economic development and enterprise
Details of avoidable injury-relevant elements from LAAs within the East Midlands are summarised in the following report:
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