Home Safety: Sharing Good Practice

1. Home Safety: Sharing Good Practice Davina Hartley 2011

2. Background • DCSF funded National ‘Safe at Home’ scheme • Will end in March 2011 • Main focus to provide and fit home safety equipment sets to families in receipt of benefits with a child under 5. • Children from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to suffer unintentional injury. “ a child whose parents have never worked is 13 times more likely to die from unintentional injury and 37 times more likely to die from exposure to smoke, fire and flames than children from parents in higher managerial professions’

3. The Bradford District • Of the 354 local authority areas in England, Bradford ranked the third highest (93.9 excess admissions over the 88.82 average) • Serious accidental injury relating to hospital admissions for under 4’s for 2004-2005 : Bradford = 112.3 per 100,000 Yorks and Humber = 94.2 per 100,000 National average = 88.4 per 100,000 (This is more than 26% above the national average.)

4. The Bradford District is the 4th largest District in England • Children 0-4 = 30,400, 7.9% of overall population • 31.7% of children live in poverty • Due to the number of excess admissions in Bradford we were allocated 2868 sets of equipment per annum. The Bradford District

5. The Scheme Locally • 2868 sets of equipment over two years adds up to approx £745,680 (incl fitting) • Delivered through an effective multiagency partnership • Fitting service commissioned by RoSPA • Tiered service has included a universal services for all families with children under five and targeted services to reach the most vulnerable children. • Referrals were made to children centre and a home visit or safety session was held • If eligible then referral into fitting service was made and equipment was fitted

6. Set of Equipment • A set of equipment from safe at home consists of: • 2 Stair Gates • Fireguard • Cupboard locks • Window restrictors • Bathmat • Corner cushions and • Blind cord gadget Approx cost per set = £70.00

7. Benefits of the scheme • Valuable service for professionals to refer into – increased partnerships • Aims to reduce inequalities • Consistent scheme accessible to all in District regardless of postcode • Targets the most vulnerable children • Filled the large gap left by discontinuation of FSU scheme • Contributes to meeting the target within the CYPP (2009-2012) and the current needs assessment in which accidental injury to children is seen as a priority.

8. Impact • Still too early to see the full impact of the scheme • Anticipated long term benefits • No quick return, however, short term funded projects will not produce the long term gains required to tackle this complex issue locally • Commitment to long term required from public service leaders and from localities within Bradford if we are to really impact on outcomes for children.

9. What the scheme has meant to parents BSCB are doing a survey of every 20th family in receipt of the scheme, some of their comments are below: “Made a big difference overall as I have a marble fireplace that was a real hazard but is now safer” “Been a lot better safety wise….the safety gate is far better than expected and is in daily use” “Has definitely made a difference to us now the children can’t get up the stairs and into cupboards with chemicals in” “…the safety gate and fireguard have definitely made things better” “It has made life a lot easier, the equipment was fitted about a week before the baby started crawling, very good timing. The fireguard is great” “…It has taken away the worry of the stairs.”

10. Statistics • BSCB have had a total of 5200 referrals into the scheme to date from local practitioners • We do not have access to good representative data relating to attendances at A and E due to injuries • We are waiting for the National evaluation through RoSPA to find out how effective the scheme has been in terms of reducing injury related admissions

11. A Case Study: ACAP • ACAP : Action on children’s accidents project • Funded by East Lancs NHS • Award winning project • Central team offering fully installed home safety equipment for vulnerable children under five • Have designated team of fitters • Also offer home safety talks and safety events to raise awareness • The scheme has reduced child A and E attendances

13. LOCAL OPTIONS : After March 2011 • The evidence shows that schemes are more effective when the equipment is installed • The Bradford District needs to provide an equitable district wide scheme • Safety assessments should continue to be offered by frontline staff carrying out home visits • Home safety advice and information should continue to be offered to parents/ carers

14. OPTIONS continued The options for children centres/ localities include: 1. Offer home safety assessments (using checklist) 2. Offer home safety sessions 3. Offer cost price equipment to most vulnerable families 4. Offer free equipment to most vulnerable families 5. Offer free equipment and installation of equipment to most vulnerable families

15. Tools to aid sustainability • There are tools available after the safe at home scheme ends to help local centres deliver important key messages to parents: • RoSPA DVD’s for home safety sessions • home safety checklist/ assessment • Storyboard method • Online home safety training • Baby Burns dolls and hot drinks burn DVD pack • Blind Cord winder packs available from RoSPA • ELFS packs

16. The purpose of this event • To provide information about national guidance relating to home safety • To share good practice in relation to the home safety scheme • To thank everyone locally for their fantastic contribution to working to prevent injuries to local children • To gather the views of local frontline staff regarding the delivery of the scheme and the challenges faced • To provide tools to help you continue to work to try and prevent injuries to children in the Bradford District

17. My Details Davina Hartley Child Accident Prevention Coordinator Bradford Safeguarding Children Board 01274 431490 davina.hartley@bradford.gov.uk