UK Concussion Guidelines for Grass-roots Sport

Lord Addington Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd May 2023 Lords Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay) (Con)]

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for the support of the party opposite. World-leading experts have informed this guidance and it is important that we give it to the many people who are engaged in recreational sport across the country. The example that the noble Lord gives from his own family is illustrative of the issues that we need to make people aware of, so that people can intervene where needed and make sure that there is support for those who require it.

As my right honourable friend the Sports Minister said yesterday in another place, he has committed to continuing to work with his colleagues in the Department of Health and Social Care to ensure that the relevant advice is given to people, including those who want to contact the NHS through the 111 service. Many health experts from lots of sporting backgrounds have been involved in the preparation of this advice.

The noble Lord is right to point to the role of financial governing bodies in disseminating the advice that is appropriate in the context of their sports. Last year the English and Scottish Football Associations banned heading the ball in training for primary school-age children, an example of work that has been taken on. We are working with national governing bodies to make sure that the guidance is disseminated to everyone who needs to see it.

[Lord Addington (LD)]

My Lords, will the Minister clarify one or two points? First, as is said in the document and is well-known, the younger you are, the more serious concussion can be. The school-aged people that we are primarily talking about tend to play a lot of sports. There must be thousands of people who have the experience of the child who plays in three school teams and maybe also on a Saturday.

What is the responsibility of the parent to make sure that, if you have been banged on the head playing rugby, you do not simply go off and play something else? Swimming is a good example. You can injure you yourself when swimming; diving carries a risk of concussion. What is the reference across that they are giving out to parents and coaches in all these sports about all the people involved? Are they going to make sure that everyone knows they have to talk to each other and who the conduit is for passing on that information? That is an important factor.

Secondly, when it comes to the governing bodies—which will be the way that information will be disseminated to people in the individual sports—what role does the Department of Health have in making sure that the guidance is technically correct and follows a consistent pathway? Any one of three Ministers could have answered this Question, and it just happens to have fallen to the noble Lord. What co-ordination is there to make sure that we have a consistency of approach across all departments?

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

The noble Lord is right that this is work that engages other government departments and many institutions in education and healthcare. A range of government departments and representatives from the education sector and medicine have been engaged in the process, and the guidelines will be published through all those channels to make sure that schools, teachers and doctors are aware. As I say, it is for the national governing bodies of each sport to make sure that this baseline guidance is tailored to the specific context and setting of their sport, and we would like to see that built on. It is for them to give any additional messages. The guidance is an essential first step, and fundamental to it is the simple overriding message: if in doubt, sit them out.