Tree falls and hand tool mishaps: Twelve Unlucky days of Christmas from the NHS Information Centre
Here it is, merry Christmas, and everybody in the newsroom is probably not having fun. So, in what is now as traditional as giving gifts and eating sprouts, here are a few festive facts from the NHS Information Centre.
***Selected regional information to primary care trust level available on request***
29 December 2011: for immediate use
The following (sort of) Christmas figures relate to hospital admissions in England that occurred in the 2010/11 financial year and derive from Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) inpatient data, published on 2 November 2011.
12 drummers drumming
But for how long exactly? 11,331 admissions were due to overexertion and strenuous or repetitive movements. Mind you, all that drumming could help work up a sweat, thus avoiding an admission for exposure to excessive natural cold; of which there were 981. It’s a fine balance.
11 pipers piping
Within safe sound limits of course, so as not to cause any of the four admissions due to noise exposure or any of the seven due to vibration.
10 lords a leaping
Hopefully the lords had a serious training programme in the run-up to the event, and didn’t account for any of the 5,651 admissions resulting from being struck against or bumped into by another person.
Nine ladies dancing
Quite possibly on ice, given the time of year. Fingers crossed they were confident gliding across the slippery stuff and didn’t contribute to the 4,193 admissions resulting from falls involving ice-skates, skis, roller-skates or skateboards.
Eight maids-a-milking
But were the milking stools positioned in a safe place in the farmyard, let alone in proximity to the cow? 164 admissions resulted from contact with agricultural machinery, while 2,540 were caused by being bitten or struck by a mammal (other than a dog or rat).
Seven swans-a-swimming
So no need to jump in and rescue one if it looks a bit tired. 228 admissions resulted from injuries caused by diving or jumping into water.
Six geese-a-laying
However just watch out while boiling those eggs; 782 admissions resulted from contact with hot household appliances; and if you’re making warm Eggnog, best bear in mind 1,914 admissions were caused by contact with hot drinks.
FIVE go-O-oLD rings
Are probably more desirable than the five emergency admissions for victims of avalanche. One to ponder before getting out the snow shoes.
Four Colly birds
Could quite easily be confused with Colly dogs (cough). 6,005 admissions resulted from being bitten or struck by a dog.
Three French hens
Having exhausted hen/egg related links, we’ll just say we hope the henhouse was built safely, and didn’t contribute to the 4,375 admissions due to injury from a non-powered hand tool.
Two turtle doves
Obviously come out more when it’s snowing (honestly); so they probably witnessed quite a few of the falls on ice and snow that caused 14,343 admissions.
And a partridge in a pear tree
Which hopefully doesn’t need rescuing; given the 1,264 admissions recorded from people falling out of trees in 2010/11.
To view the figures visit www.hesonline.nhs.uk and select; accessing the data; freely available data; inpatient data; external cause.
A very merry Christmas and a happy new year from the NHS Information Centre press office.
ENDS
Notes to editors
- The NHS Information Centre (The NHS IC) is England’s central, authoritative, independent source of health and social care information. It works with a wide range of health and social care providers nationwide to provide the facts and figures that help the NHS and social services run effectively. Its role is to collect data, analyse it and convert it into useful information which helps providers improve their services and supports academics, researcher, regulators and policymakers in their work.
- The NHS IC also produces a wide range of statistical publications each year across a number of areas including: primary care, health and lifestyles, screening, hospital care, population and geography, social care and workforce and pay statistics.
- HES can be used to derive information on both numbers of hospital admissions and numbers of Finished Consultant Episodes (FCEs). Patients usually have a single FCE (period of care under one consultant) in their stay, but sometimes a patient can have more than one FCE once admitted. As well as supporting activity such as accountability to Parliament, figures are used for performance monitoring including performance rating indicators for Acute Trusts, Mental Health Trusts and Primary Care Trusts.
- Figures in this press release are derived from final HES data for 2010/11, which was published in November 2011. Provisional data for 2011/12 is also published each month.
- All the data in this press release are based on ICD 10 external cause codes. These are supplementary diagnostic codes that indicate the nature of any external cause of injury, poisoning or other adverse effects. Only the first external cause code which is coded within the episode is counted in HES. The codes used in this press release are:
- X50: Overexertion and strenuous or repetitive movements
- X31: Exposure to excessive natural cold
- W42: Exposure to noise
- W43: Exposure to vibration
- W51: Striking against or bumped into by another person
- W02: Fall involving ice-skates skis roller-skates or skateboards
- W30: Contact with agricultural machinery
- W55: Bitten or struck by other mammals
- W16: Diving/jumping into water causing injury other than drowning or submersion
- X15: Contact with hot household appliances
- X10: Contact with hot drinks
- X36: Victim of avalanche
- W54: Bitten or struck by a dog
- W27: Contact with non-powered hand tool
- W00: Fall on same level involving ice and snow
- W14: Fall from a tree
For media enquires please call 0845 257 6990 or contact mediaenquiries@ic.nhs.uk