Areas to be addressed:
The Government believes that basic information about head injuries and the initial action to take should be, at a minimum, consistent across all sports. It should be regularly and consistently updated, easily accessible and easy to understand, regardless of the sporting activity being undertaken and irrespective of age and gender, whether it is at an amateur or professional level, or where it is being played.
Action to be Taken:
The Government agrees with the Select Committee and will commission a set of shared protocols around concussion in sport. We will build upon the existing work undertaken across the different nations of the UK with stakeholders to aim to develop a single set of shared guidelines across the whole of the UK.
These protocols will ensure that no matter where someone is playing sport, or what sport they are playing, there is clear and consistent guidance available (through a wide variety of media) about the basic facts about concussion and the steps that should be taken. At a minimum,
the protocols will cover information about:
• What is concussion/head injury/brain trauma
• How to recognise the signs on and off the field
• Removal from play
• What to do in the short-term (immediately)
• What to do in the medium term (recovery protocols)
• What to do in the longer term (management of post concussion syndrome)
• Returning to play
• How to get more information
These protocols will be designed to be relevant to all participants of sport, regardless of age or gender, as well as those involved in delivering sports, such as sports coaches, officials, family members and teachers.
We expect these protocols to be the initial “base line” upon which each governing sport body will build their own specific protocols relevant to their sport. In addition, we recognise that the development of protocols is in itself not sufficient to raise awareness or change behaviours. Effective communication of the new shared protocols is vital to ensure the key messages reach those who need the information the most. Education
is an essential component of an effective communication plan.
We will therefore seek to use existing networks to distribute the protocols across schools, community sports clubs, sports coaches and national governing bodies of sport. We will look to the whole sport sector to get involved with the process of developing, distributing and actively promoting the protocols. DCMS will therefore create a distribution network of key stakeholders to ensure that the new protocols are shared as widely as possible across the sporting and educational landscape.
The Minister for Sport will write to UK Sport and Sport England to explore what more can be done to ensure that the shared protocols be implemented by those sports in receipt of public funding.
DCMS will create a distribution network of key stakeholders in receipt of new concussion protocols to be communicated widely across the sport and education sectors.
Milestones:
• The concussion protocols will be completed, and communication started, by summer 2022.