Health: Concussion in Sport

Lord Storey Excerpts

Thursday 27th February 2014 Grand Committee

[Lord Storey (LD)]

My Lords, first, I thank my noble friend Lord Addington for initiating this important debate. I must say at the beginning that I am speaking on this issue while being aware that there are noble Lords here who have far more experience and understanding of the subject than me. I wanted to speak in the debate for a number of reasons, which will become apparent in the next few minutes. I am a former teacher, and the importance of sport in general, and team sports in particular, is there for all to see. I do not need to catalogue the details of that importance. We are becoming an increasingly sports-mad nation, with more and more people participating in sport in so many different disciplines.

Every parent wants to know that their child is as safe they possibly can be, whatever sport they take part in. Parents want to know that their child has the right and suitable advice, equipment and medical support if something goes wrong. Of course, accidents do happen, and I am mindful of that myself. Having taken up skiing late in life, I was standing at the side admiring the view, completely out of anybody’s way, when a snowboarder hurtled towards me. The next thing I knew I had broken my tibia and torn my cruciate ligament. I had to be rushed off to hospital through no fault of my own. These things do happen.

In contact sports, the problem of concussion must be taken seriously. A cursory browse through the newspaper headlines shows what a real issue it has become: “Brain Damage Fear Hits Junior American Football”; “Concern over the Effects of Heavy Knocks to the Brain is Rising among Contact Sports”; “Rugby Union Doctor Warns of Legal Cases over Brain Damage”; “Concussion is a Massive Problem for Rugby, Says Players’ Union Manager” and so on.

I have been rather disappointed by Answers to some Questions in the other place. Jim Shannon asked the Secretary of State for Health,

“what recent discussions his Department has had with the Rugby Football Union regarding the problem of concussion in that sport”.

The Reply was that there had been,

“no discussions with the Rugby Football Union regarding the problem of concussion in the sport”.—[Official Report, Commons, 27/1/14; col. 435W.]

Sir Bob Russell asked the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what advice players were receiving regarding head injuries and was told:

“It is a matter for National Governing Bodies”.—[Official Report, Commons, 20/11/13; col. 921W.]

I do not think it is a matter just for the governing bodies of those sports. We should not think is somebody else’s problem—it is an issue for all of us. I think that all of us would expect that the Government take these issues seriously and work with the national bodies and relevant partners to see what can be done.

One of the delightful—or less delightful—things about debates is that you have to do some research. The noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson, mentioned Ben Robinson, who I did not know about until I did some research. I was saddened by the case of this lad who suffered a double concussion and died while playing a sport that he loved but, as in so many other cases like this, the parents immediately took up the issue, and a campaign was started. There was a meeting with the Scottish Government, there are leaflets available on what can be done and the message was developed, “If in doubt, sit them out,” which has been taken up by American football authorities. Out of this personal tragedy, a really important campaign has started. In my own city, a young boy called Oliver King died while swimming due to sudden arrhythmic death syndrome. He was 12 years old. As a result of that terrible tragedy, his father set up the Oliver King Foundation, which campaigns for defibrillators to be placed in every school. I am pleased to say that the Minister, the noble Lord, Lord Nash, is going to meet with the parents in the next few weeks. Again, some good has come out of a tragic sporting death.

It is not just a matter for sporting authorities. What should we do? First, we should not assign contact sports some sort of pariah status, but nor should we pretend that there is not a problem. We should not believe that there are quick and easy answers, such as a mandatory three-week rest that will solve the problems. Nor should we believe that we can spend 15 minutes looking at a cut as a result of a contact sport, but only a few minutes if there is concussion.

After doing the research, the person who best summed up for me what our attitude should be is the rugby player Dean Ryan, and I will leave his thoughts with you. My noble friend Lord Addington will know that Dean Ryan had six caps for England and is currently director of rugby at Worcester Warriors. Bizarrely, he was concussed not while playing rugby but in the victory celebrations after winning a match when somebody, in moment of hilarity, actually hit him. Examination showed that he had a large bruise on the side of his head. As he said in a newspaper article:

“The rule then was that concussion brought a mandatory three-week rest from the game, hence me missing that final league game at which the cup was presented”.

He had to give up the sport, as he started having 20 to 30 seizures per month and so on. I think that what he says is very telling and sums up my thoughts:

“To rid ourselves of the effects of a poisoned history and the macho culture which still pervades the issue of concussion, players have to believe in the guidance they are getting and this is where my frustrations lie. The game, the professional game, isn’t getting it. I’ve been to recent conferences on the subject hoping to learn the way forward, but instead came away with yet more conflicting views and argument. What the professional game needs is to be told what it must do. It must be authoritative and convincing. And until it gets that guidance there is little chance of persuading players that there is a way forward; that they can stop running away from the doctor, that they can stop hiding behind a wall of lies which prevents appropriate and sensitive treatment”.