Nearly 114,000 children were admitted to hospital or taken to A&E in London last year with serious breathing problems, according to new figures obtained by Mums for Lungs. The group of parent campaigners says the scale of the health crisis is linked to toxic air pollution and is urging urgent action from the Mayor of London, local councils and the government. Recent research has shown that the UK has the highest prevalence of asthma in Europe. (1) The Royal College of Physicians estimates that 30,000 people die prematurely every year in the UK from air pollution. (2)
Data received under the Freedom of Information Act from NHS Trusts across the capital shows that in just one year, there were 113,736 paediatric respiratory hospital admissions and A&E attendances across London. This breaks down as around 88,000 A&E admissions, and 26,000 admissions to hospital wards. (3)
Dr Katie Knight, a Paediatric Emergency Medicine Consultant, based in Haringey, north London, said:
“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.”
Children living in areas served by hospital trusts who 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 7,505 children admitted to A&E or to a hospital ward
Mums for Lungs outside St Thomas’ Hospital highlight the over 100,000 children hospitalised every year in London with breathing problems
Jemima Hartshorn, founder and Director of Mums for Lungs, who lives in Southwark, said:
“These figures are heartbreaking and should finally shame our political leaders into action. Children in London are suffering because of avoidable pollution – too many polluting diesel cars and unnecessary domestic wood burning are making our children sick, choke, cough and struggle for their breath, putting them into hospital.”
“Across England, children’s health, their family lives, their schooling and their parents’ work lives are compromised because another Government is refusing to clean up our air – children are paying with their lungs and it’s costing our economy £500M a week too. ”
Mums for Lungs is calling for:
An enforceable pathway to meet WHO targets on NO₂ and PM2.5, at least as soon as this is happening across the EU, so 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
