Written question asked by Paul Marsden (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 3 June 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 13 June 2003. It was answered by Hazel Blears (Labour) on Friday, 13 June 2003 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many accidents there were in each year since 1997 involving children coming into contact with poisonous plants in the countryside. - No figures, the DH does not collect this information.

Answer: Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many accidents there were in each year since 1997 involving children coming into contact with poisonous plants in the countryside. [117581] Ms Blears: The Department of Health does not collect information on the number of accidents involving children coming into contact with poisonous plants in the countryside. The Department collects information on accidental injuries leading to hospital admission as an in-patient in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) system. Children admitted to hospital after coming into contact with poisonous plants in the countryside are included in HES; however, the codes used in HES to record cause of injury cannot identify accidents involving contact with poisonous plants as a separate group.

Secondary information