‘A crisis in our health system that is entirely preventable’

Clean air campaign group Mums For Lungs have uncovered shocking statistics regarding the number of children admitted to hospital with breathing difficulties in London.

The group submitted Freedom of Information requests to every NHS hospital trust in London asking for the number of paediatric respiratory hospital admissions and the number of paediatric A&E attendances with respiratory conditions over the course of last year.

Their enquiries revealed that nearly 114,000 children visited a London hospital with breathing difficulties, and over 25,000 of them were admitted for treatment.

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.’

Over half of the children visiting hospital were three years old or younger. 

The hospital with the most visits was the North Middlesex University Hospital in Edmonton, where the figure was over 14,587 – representing more than 10% of all hospital visits in London.

Guys and St Thomas’ Hospital, covering Lambeth and Southwark, actually saw the most admissions, with 2,413 children of the 7,505 who presented at the hospital being admitted. Atypically, those in the 12-18 age group were most likely to be kept in. 

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.’

Rosa, mother of Max (7), Ealing, said: ‘We have had to take our son to A&E many times since was a baby. His breathing becomes so bad, we panic every time he gets a cold. We live near a busy main road – it’s clear the pollution is making him worse. I feel totally let down by politicians that look away instead of protecting our children from toxic air.’

Frances Buckingham, a mother of two in Barnet said: ‘As a parent, I am deeply concerned about the impact of air pollution on my sons’ long-term health and it is troubling to see how many children are being admitted to hospital with respiratory conditions.

‘The ULEZ has shown that policies prioritising public health are effective in reducing harmful pollutants. We now need strong leadership at the local level in Barnet and beyond to further clean up the air and make London a healthier place to live, especially for its youngest residents.’

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

The full findings can be seen here

Photo: Patty Gambini