MORE than a dozen child burn victims were admitted to Hampshire Hospitals Foundation Trust over the last five years, NHS data shows.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health says that many burns are “potentially preventable”, and urged parents to take care with hot foods and items around the house.

Between 2013-14 and 2017-18, the trust admitted approximately 16 children with burns.

Approximately two children were admitted with burns caused by contact with hot food, drinks, water or cooking oils. The other 14 were caused by contact with various things like hot air or gases, tap-water, appliances or metals, or exposure to fire, or ignition or melting of various flammable materials.

In the last year of figures alone, 2017-18, at least one child was admitted in the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust with burns.

Numbers in the statistics have been rounded to prevent identification of patients.

Across England, more than 3,600 children were admitted with burns each of the last five years.

Burns and scalds are the fourth-highest cause of hospital admissions for children under five, according to a 2018 Public Health England report on unintentional injuries among children, after choking, falls and poisoning.

Dr Max Davie, from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said: "Too many children are being admitted to hospital with burns, which can be very painful and distressing for children and their families.

"Parents must be supported, with appropriate practical advice and emotional help as and when they need it. The ongoing cuts to local public health services must be halted and reversed so that families can benefit from expert advice on various issues, including burn prevention."

A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said: “As these figures show, burns and scalds result in very serious injuries for thousands of children each year. Recovery from a serious burn or scald injury may be long and painful, requiring treatment for many years, and many children are left with permanent scarring.

"Hot drinks cause most scalds to children under the age of five.

“RoSPA recommends that hot drinks are kept away from the edges of tables and worktops because they can still scald a child 15 minutes after they’ve been made, and we also advise parents and carers not to hold a hot drink and child at the same time.”