“A preventable health crisis” - our latest research on London hospital admissions
Our latest research has revealed that 120,000 children were admitted to hospital or taken to A&E in London last year with serious breathing problems. With 85,000 children attending hospitals and 35,000 being admitted, the scale of this health crisis requires urgent action from the Mayor of London, local councils and the Government.
Members of Mums for Lungs outside St Thomas’ Hospital, highlighting the over 100,000 children hospitalised every year in London with breathing problems.
Photo: Patty Gambini
Children living in areas served by hospital trusts that were especially hard hit:
North Middlesex University Hospital in Edmonton saw 14,587 children admitted to A&E or to a hospital ward
Hillingdon Hospital saw 10,417 children admitted to A&E or to a hospital ward
University Hospital Lewisham saw 8,218 children admitted to A&E or to a hospital ward
Barnet Hospital saw 7,523 children admitted to A&E or to a hospital ward
Guys’ and St Thomas’ Hospital, which covers Lambeth and Southwark, saw 7,599 children admitted to A&E or to a hospital ward
“Every year we see thousands of children in London coming to A&E with severe breathing difficulties, many of whom will have had their symptoms exacerbated by toxic air pollution. With the NHS 10 Year Plan having just been published, the time to act is now to avoid a crisis in our health system that is entirely preventable.”
Recent research has shown that the UK has the highest prevalence of asthma in Europe, and the Royal College of Physicians estimates that 30,000 people die prematurely every year in the UK from air pollution.
Road transport remains the biggest source of harmful emissions in London – particularly diesel vehicles and large, heavy SUVs that emit significantly more air pollution and CO₂ than smaller cars. Largely unnecessary domestic combustion such as wood burning is one of the major sources of fine particle pollution (PM2.5).
Recent research by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, commissioned by ClientEarth, estimated that excess nitrogen oxide emissions from diesel cars linked to “Dieselgate” will have caused 41,000 new cases of asthma in children between 2009 and 2040.
Members of Mums for Lungs have been highlighting the shocking figures with banners outside hospitals across the capital. Photos: Patty Gambini
Mums for Lungs is calling for:
An enforceable pathway to meet World Health Organization targets on nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and PM2.5, at least as soon as this is happening across the EU, so that children in the UK are as well protected as their European neighbours.
A clear timeline to phase out existing diesel vehicles in London, starting with those implicated in the Dieselgate scandal.
A phase out of domestic wood burning where it is not the primary source of heating.
Restrictions on large, high-polluting SUVs, especially in densely populated areas like London.
Urgent funding for School Streets to be introduced across the country to protect children from toxic pollution at the school gate.
You can read coverage of our research in the BBC, Air Quality News, ZAG Daily, the London Post and Environment Journal, as well as local outlets such as Barnet Post and Haringey Community Press.