Accidents

Introduction

Accidents are the greatest single threat to life for children and young people. Falls, road traffic accidents (RTAs), fire, suffocation and drowning cause the largest number of fatalities in older people.

Facts and figures

During the period 2021 to 2023, approximately 236 people died from accidental injury in Blackpool (all ages), an average of 79 a year. The directly standardised mortality rate (in this case per 100,000 population) is calculated to allow comparison between geographies of different population sizes and with different gender and age make ups. Figure 1 shows Blackpool's directly standardised rate (56.3 per 100,000 all ages) of mortality from accidents is significantly higher than the average of English local authorities and is the highest in the country.

Figure 1 - mortality from accidents 2021-23 - lower tier local authority

 Source: OHID, Mortality Profile

Figure 2 shows the trend in mortality from accidents, comparing Blackpool to the North West and England and Wales. Nationally and in the North West the mortality rate from accidents has risen slightly between 2012 and 2023. Blackpool's mortality rate  has remained above the national rate with a sharper rise over the same period. Though considerably lower than the male rate, female rates increased sharply between 2021 and 2023 following a general upward trend from 2014 (with the exception of a dip between 2020 and 2021). The rise in accident mortality among males and females in Blackpool is mainly attributable to an increase in accidental poisonings.

Figure 2 - trend in accident mortality 1995-2023