Third Report - Concussion in sport

The government acknowledges the committee's conclusion, agreeing that mass participation in sporting activity offers tangible health benefits, including reducing the risk of dementia and other health conditions.

The government agrees with the recommendation and will task a working group to develop a communications campaign to ensure participants at all levels of sport are aware of key concussion messages.

The government partially accepts the recommendation, stating NHSX will work to create standardized codes for sport-related concussion using SNOMED CT13 to improve data quality in patient records. It also notes the Emergency Care Data Set and Shared Care Record programme will enhance data collection and sharing.

The government agrees in part with the recommendation, stating NHSX will work to improve data quality and reporting by recommending the creation of specific codes for sport-related concussions, using standardised clinical coding for structured data entry.

The government agrees in part with the concern, committing NHS England and NHS Improvement to collaborate with several medical bodies to review existing guidance and training on sports-related concussion and make necessary improvements. However, they clarify they do not produce clinical guides or set curriculum for GPs or emergency clinicians.

The government agrees in part, committing NHS England and NHS Improvement to collaborate with several medical bodies to review existing guidance and training on sports-related concussion and make necessary improvements. However, they stop short of committing to preparing a specific new learning module within a fixed timeline or ensuring mandatory recurring training for practitioners, noting their limitations in producing clinical guides or setting curriculum.

The government agrees and will work with UK Sport and Sport England to ensure publicly funded sports use new shared concussion protocols, encouraging them to decide the best approach. It will also recommend sports utilize English Institute for Sport expertise and consider similar clinical governance structures adopted by British Cycling.

The government agrees with the recommendation and will work with UK Sport and Sport England to explore how to ensure publicly funded sports use new shared concussion protocols that will be commissioned. However, they will encourage rather than mandate sports, noting UK Sport's non-regulatory role.

The government agrees with the recommendation and will work with UK Sport and Sport England to explore how to ensure publicly funded sports use new shared concussion protocols it intends to commission. It maintains that sports will decide how best to approach this, with encouragement rather than a mandate.

The government partially accepts the recommendation, committing to strengthen athlete protection requirements within UK Sport funding agreements as protocols develop. However, it rejects the specific recommendation for a UK Sport-funded chief medical officer to attend major events, stating that medical provision is the responsibility of the British Olympic Association and British Paralympic Association.

The government agrees with the committee's conclusion regarding the past failures of football bodies to address concussion, and states its ambition to make sport safer. It intends to provide updates on its own concussion in sport initiatives through its Government Sport Strategy annual report.

The government agrees with the committee's observations and states its ambition to ensure sport is as safe as possible. It intends to provide updates on its concussion in sport initiatives through its Government Sport Strategy annual report.

The government agrees in part, supporting greater recording of sports concussion incidents but believing other organizations are better placed than HSE to collate data. HSE will assist National Governing Bodies in establishing a reporting scheme and endorse a code of practice, while the government will investigate a national register and convene a forum to develop a standard framework for recording head injuries.

The government's response, while detailing actions on injury recording and HSE's role, does not directly engage with the specific substance of the committee's conclusion regarding the broad nature of long-term effects of acquired brain injury beyond diagnosed concussions.

The government partially accepts the recommendation, agreeing on the need for better recording but suggesting other organisations are better placed than HSE to collate the information. It commits to looking into the feasibility of a national register and will convene a forum to discuss developing a standard framework for reporting head injuries.

The government agrees with the intention to simplify research funding but rejects establishing a single fund, citing existing medical research funds. Instead, it will convene a “sports concussion research forum” to identify research goals and share findings, aiming to improve coordination.

The government agrees with the recommendation and will task the “sports concussion research forum” to undertake the role of assessing emerging science on concussion, with its full brief and reporting timeframe to be defined.

The government agrees with the recommendation and will work with the devolved nations and sports councils to develop a UK-wide concussion protocol, based on the Scottish model. The Sport and Recreation Alliance will lead this work, expected to start by the end of 2021 and be completed by the end of 2022.

The government agrees with the recommendation and will task the working group developing concussion protocols to also create a comprehensive communications campaign to raise awareness of best practice among all involved in sport.

The government agrees with the recommendation to take real and effective action on sporting safety and commits to providing updates on progress with its concussion in sport initiatives through its Government Sport Strategy annual report.

The government agrees with the recommendations to ensure sport is as safe as possible and commits to providing updates on progress with its concussion in sport initiatives through its Government Sport Strategy annual report.