Unintentional Injuries Conference

On June 5^th National Child safety week our Children’s services came together to attend the Unintentional Injuries and Safer Sleep Conference held at the historic and charming Guildhall in Hull city centre.  This was held by Humber NHS Teaching Trust and the Local Authority (Hull City Council).  This conference was extra special as it was the first national conference since Covid focusing specifically on Child accident prevention and promoting safer sleep, it was an excellent opportunity to showcase the importance of this and also the excellent work which the team have been involved with.

The overarching goal of the conference was to prevent and reduce unintentional injuries and Sudden infant death in babies and children by raising awareness of important evidence based public health safety messages.  The delegates included a variety of professionals who work with babies and children and who are in a great position to promote these messages to our families.  The conference also highlighted a range of potential dangers which can often be overlooked, including household hazards like medications and button batteries.

The conference was opened by our assistant director of Public health who spoke with passion and pride, delegates also heard from a variety of national and local speakers including our very own Humber unintentional injury and safe sleep team, a consultant paediatrician, an A and E senior nurse and a safeguarding officer from the safeguarding partnership board, a public health project officer from the Royal society of the prevention of accidents, A senior consultant from the Child accident prevention trust and the CEO of the Institute of health visiting. Each speaker spoke with eloquence, looking at national data and local statistics on how we can improve our understanding of unintentional injuries and how we can all work together in an attempt to prevent these injuries and to promote safer sleep messages.

Angela Burns, Health and Development Practitioner at our Trust said, “The Unintentional Injuries and Safer Sleep team are passionate about injury prevention in how we have never had a conference like this in Hull. It was time to make a statement and bring professionals and agencies working with the under 5’s together to share knowledge and ideas.”

Heidi Fewings, 0-19 Service Manager at our Trust said, “The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted some planned initiatives, highlighting the need to reinvest in early intervention and education. This innovative conference was planned to bring stakeholders together, share information, and drive action. Actions will involve various groups including a steering group, partnership group, family hubs, fire and police services, using data to inform strategies.”

Jason Goforth, Public Health Lead for Children, Young People and Families, “The public health team is dedicated to improving outcomes for children, young people, and families by commissioning services, raising awareness, and involving families in the process. The aim is for accident prevention to be integral to their work, addressing issues such as the affordability of safety products and providing guidance to families.”