Great Ormond Street to look at home air pollution when diagnosing illnesses

Pioneering initiative to consider children’s addresses after coroner ruled air pollution a factor in death of Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, aged nine.

Doctors at Great Ormond Street are being encouraged to consider air pollution levels at their patients’ home addresses when assessing the causes of their illnesses, under an innovative pilot scheme.

Data showing the average annual air pollution rates at patients’ postcodes has been embedded in patients’ electronic files, so that clinicians can help families understand whether their child has been exposed to elevated risk.

The initiative comes in response to criticisms made by the coroner during the inquest of Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, who was nine when she died from asthma 10 years ago, and who in 2020 became the first person in the UK to have air pollution listed on her death certificate as a cause of death.