The backing follows an RoSPA report which reveals there are over 800,000 accident-related hospital admissions in the UK each year, up by 29% since 2002/03 and over 7m accident-related A&E attendances.

Accidents cost the NHS millions of bed days and £6bn in direct treatment costs annually, excluding costs for rehabilitation following accidents, which would make the figure much higher. 

The Government has faced criticism for its lack of a consistent approach to the public health emergency with a lack of co-ordination between different departments and offices such as the Department for Transport and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Accident prevention is also overlooked in the 10-Year Health Plan, despite their healthcare cost being comparable to obesity (estimated at £6.5bn) and smoking (estimated at £2.5bn). 

Following the debate, Steve Cole, RoSPA policy director, said: ‘This debate is an important step in RoSPA's fight to reverse the UK's alarming rise in accident rates and we are grateful to the House of Lords' for raising the profile of this crucial topic. While Government's warm words are very welcome, the sheer scale of the crisis caused by years of insufficient and unco-ordinated accident prevention work means there is not a moment to waste, so we look forward to working with them to transform their commitment into real action to save lives across the UK.'