At $100m, cost of injuries hits home
With the number of claims in the Bay rising, ACC is urging a change in mindset
The Accident Compensation Corporation forked out close to $100 million for Bay of Plenty residents injured at home in 2020 to help them recover. Both the number of new injury claims and the cost of those injuries was the highest it had been in the previous five years.
ACC head of injury prevention Isaac Carlson said it was important to think about potential risks during lockdown but acknowledged it was a chaotic time for many.
Despite the extra time spent at home since the pandemic started, Lakes District Health Board head of emergency department Dr Suzanne Moran said there had been no spike in at-home injury presentations during either lockdown.
There were 4.9 million claims for injuries around the home accepted by ACC between 2016 and 2020 across New Zealand, which cost $5.6 billion to help people recover.
Last year, there were just over 1 million claims accepted for a cost of $1.4b, an increase of $143m from 2019.
In the Bay of Plenty during this period, there were 364,336 new claims which cost $382m — in 2020 there were 75,159 injury claims which cost $96m.
One in five New Zealanders will injure themselves at home on average.
There were seven ways Kiwis were hurting themselves at home more than any other: Falls, lifting and carrying, animal-related, gardening, puncture and cuts, twisting movement, and collision/knocked over.
“We want people to be doing the things that they love at home but we also want to collectively change our mindset on preventing injury so we can get through this period without serious injury,” Carlson said.
“We know it’s chaos for many families out there. Trying to work from home and manage a family during a lockdown is not an easy time so we all need to acknowledge that.
“But it’s important to think about risk during this period so we can
decrease the number and the severity of injuries.”
ACC was encouraging New Zealanders to take a moment to think about what they were doing and what could go wrong to prevent an injury.
Tidying up toys, keeping floors clear of cables and other items, wiping spills immediately and knowing how to safely interact with animals were a handful of useful steps, Carlson said.
Rotorua Hospital and Taupo¯ Hospital had not seen an increase in athome injuries during this lockdown or the one last year, Moran said.
“Our overall numbers have been lower than we would usually see but the type of presentations we are seeing has remained consistent,” she said.
At-home injuries included burns and scalds, cutting hands on knives or open tins, and tripping over obstacles, Moran said. Sometimes the emergency department saw people with DIY related injuries due to power tools too.
“This is pretty usual work for ED and this type of presentation is seen on a regular basis,” Moran said.
“The types of presentation can be associated with different age brackets – elderly patients are more likely to fall around the home, toddlers are more likely to fall/trip or bump their head in the home against furniture.”