Health and Social Care

Nadine Dorries Excerpts

Tuesday 24th November 2020 Ministerial Corrections

The following is an extract from the debate on covid-19 on 22 October 2020.

[Ms Dorries]

… My hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch (Sir Christopher Chope) mentioned Sweden, but an article in The BMJ—a research study—concluded that Sweden and the US are the only two countries that are failing to reduce their numbers of deaths. In fact, it is far more accurate to compare Sweden with its Nordic neighbours. Sweden has 586 deaths per 1 million people, while its neighbour Norway has 279, so I am not quite sure why Sweden would be cited as a country of success.

[Official Report, 22 October 2020, Vol. 682, c. 1337.]

Letter of correction from the Minister for Patient Safety, Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, the hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire (Ms Dorries).

An error has been identified in the response I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch (Sir Christopher Chope).

The correct response should have been:

[Ms Dorries]

… My hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch (Sir Christopher Chope) mentioned Sweden, but a JAMA research letter referred to in the BMJ concluded that Sweden and the US were among eight countries that were failing to reduce their excess mortality numbers. In fact, it is far more accurate to compare Sweden with its Nordic neighbours. Sweden has 582.3 covid-related deaths per 1 million people, while its neighbour Norway has 52.5 covid-related deaths per 1 million people, so I am not quite sure why Sweden would be cited as a country of success.