Coronavirus: Care Homes

(asked on 22nd February 2021) - View Source

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government when they first started to collect data on care home deaths from COVID-19 in England.


Answered by
Lord True Portrait
Lord True
Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
This question was answered on 8th March 2021

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have, therefore, asked the Authority to respond.

Professor Sir Ian Diamond | National Statistician

The Lord Willis of Knaresborough
House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

01 March 2021

Dear Lord Willis,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Questions asking a) when data was first collected on care home deaths from COVID-19 in England (HL13542), b) when the weekly death toll of care home residents from COVID-19 in England was first published (HL13543), and c) how many care home residents in England died from COVID-19-related symptoms in each week from 1 September 2020 to-date (HL13546).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for publishing statistics on deaths in England and Wales. Mortality statistics are compiled from information supplied when deaths are certified and registered as part of civil registration. The ONS produces a weekly report[1] on provisional deaths involving COVID-19, and from 19 January 2021 onwards it has included data on deaths involving COVID-19 in care home residents in England and Wales in 2020 and 20212. The term "care home resident" used in this publication refers to all deaths where either (a) the death occurred in a care home or (b) the death occurred elsewhere but the place of residence of the deceased was recorded as a care home. The figures should not be confused with "deaths in care homes" as reported elsewhere, which refers only to category (a).

As well as the ONS mortality data, the Care Quality Commission (CQC; the independent regulator of health and social care in England) provides numbers of deaths involving COVID-19 in care homes and care home residents in England. These data are based on the date the death was notified to the CQC and has been published by the ONS as part of the weekly bulletin3 since 28 April 2020. Data on whether the death was a result of suspected or confirmed COVID-19 has been collected by the CQC since 10 April 20204. Table 1 below shows the number of deaths involving COVID-19 in care home residents, by week of notification to the CQC, starting from week ending 4 September 2020.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

Table 1: Number of deaths involving COVID-19 in care homes residents, by week of notification, weeks ending 4 September 2020 to 19 February 2021, England[2][3][4]

Year

Week number

Week ending

Deaths involving COVID-19

2020

36

04/09/2020

21

2020

37

11/09/2020

39

2020

38

18/09/2020

49

2020

39

25/09/2020

58

2020

40

02/10/2020

83

2020

41

09/10/2020

105

2020

42

16/10/2020

142

2020

43

23/10/2020

217

2020

44

30/10/2020

293

2020

45

06/11/2020

456

2020

46

13/11/2020

533

2020

47

20/11/2020

622

2020

48

27/11/2020

706

2020

49

04/12/2020

645

2020

50

11/12/2020

692

2020

51

18/12/2020

731

2020

52

25/12/2020

746

2020

53

01/01/2021

934

2021

1

08/01/2021

1,245

2021

2

15/01/2021

1,750

2021

3

22/01/2021

2,365

2021

4

29/01/2021

2,387

2021

5

05/02/2021

1,848

2021

6

12/02/2021

1,223

2021

7

19/02/2021

843

Source: Care Quality Commission

[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/latest

2https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/carehomeresidentdeathsregisteredinenglandandwalesprovisional

3https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/numberofdeathsincarehomesnotifiedtothecarequalitycommissionengland

4https://www.ons.gov.uk/news/statementsandletters/publicationofstatisticsondeathsinvolvingcovid19incarehomesinenglandtransparencystatement

[2] Figures are for deaths CQC are notified of on the days specified. Figures only include deaths that were notified by 19 Feb 2021 and may be an underestimate due to notification delays.

[3] Figures are for people who were residents of a care home, regardless of where the death occurred. This is different to deaths occurring in care homes reported elsewhere.

[4]A death involving COVID-19 is based on the statement from the care home provider to the CQC: the assessment of whether COVID-19 was involved may or may not correspond to a medical diagnosis or test result or be reflected in the death certification

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