Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the funding available to hospices where charitable donations have fallen during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
We have worked with HM Treasury and NHS England and NHS Improvement to support hospices, including through the provision of an additional £257 million of grant funding to charitable hospices in England in response to COVID-19. Many hospices have also benefitted from the financial support offered by HM Treasury to all charities and our commitment to either fund directly or reimburse all known personal protective equipment requirements until March 2022.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the guidance for visiting patients in (a) care homes and (b) hospices in respect of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We regularly review and assess COVID-19 visiting guidance for inpatient settings (including hospices) and residential care home settings to ensure access to visitors, whilst balancing the risks and safety of patients and residents. Guidance has been informed by clinical advice throughout the pandemic in order to ensure it is up to date and effective in keeping outbreaks to a minimum whilst allowing residents and patients to have meaningful visits.
Guidance on visiting in care homes is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visiting-care-homes-during-coronavirus/update-on-policies-for-visiting-arrangements-in-care-homes.
The Department engages with partners, including Public Health England, representative organisations and care providers, to understand the impact and effectiveness of care home visiting guidance in terms of allowing some visiting whilst preventing incursion of infection in care homes wherever possible, and inform any updates required. The Care Quality Commission has reported limited instances of providers not being able to follow visiting guidance. There has been little evidence of increased outbreaks in care homes as a result of more visits.
Most hospices are independent, charitable organisations, with visiting policies at the discretion of the hospice manager. We produce guidance on testing in hospices, including for visiting, which is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-testing-for-hospices.
The Department, NHS England and NHS Improvement recognise the challenge hospices face in allowing families to spend as much time as possible with their loved one in the last few weeks of life while minimising the risks of COVID-19 transmission for other patients, visitors and staff. NHS England and NHS Improvement have published guidance on end of life care, including how COVID-19 may affect visitation, which is available at the following link: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/end-of-life-care/
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reasons the guidance for care home visiting differs with that for hospice visiting in respect of covid-19 outbreak restrictions.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Care homes and hospices are different settings and their residents have different care needs. For this reason, guidance must differ for each other these settings in respect of visiting during COVID-19 outbreaks. Hospices provide care for people from the point at which their illness is diagnosed as terminal to the end of their life. Most hospices are independent, charitable organisations, with visiting policies at the discretion of the hospice manager.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many NHS patients discharged from hospitals into (1) care homes, and (2) hospices, subsequently tested positive for COVID-19 in each month since February 2020.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Data on the number of National Health Service patients discharged from hospitals into care homes who subsequently tested positive for COVID-19 is not currently held in the format requested. Data on the number of patients discharged into hospices who subsequently tested positive is not held centrally.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of supplies of (a) personal protection equipment, (b) medicines, (c) equipment and (d) staff in hospices at the beginning of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have made no formal assessment. However, we have worked closely with Hospice UK on behalf of hospices to ensure an understanding of the adequacy of these resources during the pandemic.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2020 to Question 97002, on Coronavirus: Screening, what assessment has he made as to the effect of not having this data on (a) reducing the transmission of coronavirus, (b) patient care, (c) the effectiveness of the test and trace programme and (d) public confidence in the Government's coronavirus response.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have made no such assessment.
Those being discharged from hospital following an inpatient admission should be tested if they are being discharged to other care settings, such as care homes or hospices. Patients being discharged to home are not routinely tested unless they are thought to have symptoms appropriate for testing.
Asked by: Lord Marlesford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of the first 100,000 people to die as a result of COVID-19 died in (1) England, (2) Scotland, (3) Wales, and (4) Northern Ireland; how many of those died (a) in hospital, (b) in care homes, and (c) elsewhere; and how many of those were (i) over 80 years old, (ii) over 70 years old, (iii) under 50 years old, (iv) BAME, (v) male, and (vi) female.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
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 Marlesford DL
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
03 March 2021
Dear Lord Marlesford,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what proportion of the first 100,000 people to die as a result of COVID-19 died in (1) England, (2) Scotland, (3) Wales, and (4) Northern Ireland; how many of those died (a) in hospital, (b) in care homes, and (c) elsewhere; and how many of those were (i) over 80 years old, (ii) over 70 years old, (iii) under 50 years old, (iv) BAME, (v) male, and (vi) female (HL13602).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes statistics on deaths in England and Wales and produces a weekly report[1] on provisional numbers of deaths involving COVID-19. Mortality statistics are compiled from information supplied when deaths are certified and registered as part of civil registration. National Records for Scotland[2] and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency[3] are responsible for publishing statistics on deaths registered in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.
We cannot precisely organise deaths involving COVID-19 into the ‘first 100,000’ at this time. However, we have provided figures for deaths registered up to the end of Week 2 of 2021 (ending 15 January 2021) which is when deaths involving COVID-19 first passed 100,000 in total.
Table 1 below provides the number of deaths involving COVID-19 in the UK, and the proportion of these in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Table 2 provides the number of deaths involving COVID-19 by place of death in each UK country. Table 3 provides the number of deaths involving COVID by age group and sex. Please note that the UK totals in Table 3 are slightly different from Tables 1 and 2, as published data by age group and sex are only available for England and Wales combined (including non-residents) rather than England and Wales as individual countries.
The ONS has published a report on ethnic contrasts in deaths involving COVID-19 in England and Wales[4]. Table 4 shows the number of deaths involving COVID-19 in England and Wales; data have been published for deaths that occurred (rather than were registered) between 2 March 2020 and 28 July 2020. Please note this data includes only deaths that could be linked to the 2011 Census, as this was necessary to obtain ethnic group data. Because the method of calculation is different, the numbers do not relate directly to those in Tables 1 to 3.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
Table 1: Number and proportion of deaths involving COVID-19, weeks ending 13 March 2020 to 15 January 2021, England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland [5][6][7][8][9]
- | UK | England | Wales | Scotland1 | Northern Ireland |
Number of deaths involving COVID-19 | 104,446 | 88,974 | 5,884 | 7,460 | 2,128 |
% of UK total | 100.0% | 85.2% | 5.6% | 7.1% | 2.0% |
Source: ONS, NRS, and NISRA
Table 2: Number of deaths involving COVID-19, weeks ending 13 March 2020 to 15 January 2021 by place of occurrence, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland [10][11]
Place of death | UK | England | Wales | Scotland1 | Northern Ireland |
All places of death | 104,446 | 88,974 | 5,884 | 7,460 | 2,128 |
Home | 5,256 | 4,376 | 286 | 459 | 135 |
Care home | 26,393 | 21,615 | 1,267 | 2,869 | 642 |
Hospital | 70,793 | 61,101 | 4,247 | 4,116 | 1,329 |
Other | 2,004 | 1,882 | 84 | 16 | 22 |
Source: ONS, NRS and NISRA
Table 3: Number of deaths involving COVID-19, weeks ending 13 March 2020 to 15 January 2021, by broad age group and sex, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
Sex | Age group | UK total6 | England & Wales6 | Scotland | Northern Ireland |
People | All ages | 103,720 | 94,132 | 7,460 | 2,128 |
- | Under 1 year | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
- | 1-14 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
- | 15-44 | 1,004 | 941 | 49 | 14 |
- | 45-64 | 9,615 | 8,777 | 670 | 168 |
- | 65-74 | 15,798 | 14,305 | 1,188 | 305 |
- | 75-84 | 33,855 | 30,647 | 2,478 | 730 |
- | 85+ | 43,436 | 39,451 | 3,074 | 911 |
Males | All ages | 56,596 | 51,693 | 3,831 | 1,072 |
- | Under 1 year | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
- | 1-14 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
- | 15-44 | 587 | 554 | 27 | 6 |
- | 45-64 | 6,188 | 5,656 | 433 | 99 |
- | 65-74 | 10,036 | 9,119 | 729 | 188 |
- | 75-84 | 19,848 | 18,067 | 1,376 | 405 |
- | 85+ | 19,931 | 18,291 | 1,266 | 374 |
Females | All ages | 47,124 | 42,439 | 3,629 | 1,056 |
- | Under 1 year | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
- | 1-14 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
- | 15-44 | 417 | 387 | 22 | 8 |
- | 45-64 | 3,427 | 3,121 | 237 | 69 |
- | 65-74 | 5,762 | 5,186 | 459 | 117 |
- | 75-84 | 14,007 | 12,580 | 1,102 | 325 |
- | 85+ | 23,505 | 21,160 | 1,808 | 537 |
Source: ONS, NRS and NISRA
Table 4: Number of deaths involving COVID-19 by ethnic group and sex, deaths occurring 2 March 2020 to 28 July 2020, England and Wales[12][13]
Ethnic group | Sex | Aged 9 to 64 years | Aged 65 to 110 years |
Bangladeshi | Male | 61 | 112 |
Bangladeshi | Female | 19 | 54 |
Black African | Male | 159 | 188 |
Black African | Female | 85 | 96 |
Black Caribbean | Male | 95 | 514 |
Black Caribbean | Female | 67 | 306 |
Chinese | Male | 16 | 78 |
Chinese | Female | 8 | 55 |
Indian | Male | 180 | 525 |
Indian | Female | 80 | 357 |
Mixed | Male | 29 | 144 |
Mixed | Female | 30 | 99 |
Other | Male | 186 | 351 |
Other | Female | 85 | 226 |
Pakistani | Male | 119 | 286 |
Pakistani | Female | 75 | 156 |
White | Male | 1,939 | 20,531 |
White | Female | 1,184 | 18,201 |
Source: ONS
[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/latest
[2]https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/
[3]https://www.nisra.gov.uk/
[4]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/updatingethniccontrastsindeathsinvolvingthecoronaviruscovid19englandandwales/deathsoccurring2marchto28july2020
[5] Weeks for Scotland run Monday to Sunday rather than Saturday to Friday, so Week 2 of 2021 is week ending 11th January 2021 rather than week ending 15 January 2021
[6] Figures for individual countries exclude deaths of non-residents. Figures for “England and Wales” totals include non-residents of England and Wales; for this reason, UK totals in Table 3 differ from Tables 1 and 2.
[7] Data in Tables 1, 3 and 3 are based on date a death was registered rather than occurred. Data in Table 4 are based on the date a death occurred, registered up to 24 August 2020. There is a delay between a death occurring and it being registered
[8] All figures for 2020 and 2021 are provisional.
[9] The International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Edition (ICD-10) definitions are as follows: coronavirus (COVID-19) (U07.1 and U07.2). We use the term “involving COVID-19” when referring to deaths that mentioned these ICD-10 codes anywhere on the death certificate, whether as the underlying cause of death or elsewhere.
[10] Deaths at home are those at the usual residence of the deceased (according to the informant)‚ where this is not a communal establishment. Other Communal Establishments include (for example) prisons, student residences, and hotels. Elsewhere includes all places not covered above.
[11] "Other" includes deaths in communal establishments other than hospitals and care homes, in hospices, and that occurred "elsewhere".
[12]Data in Table 4 includes only death records that could be linked to the 2011 Census, to obtain ethnic group data.
[13]The detailed composition of each ethnic group is available to download: https://www.ons.gov.uk/download/table?format=xlsx&uri=/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/updatingethniccontrastsindeathsinvolvingthecoronaviruscovid19englandandwales/deathsoccurring2marchto28july2020/22f0c996.json
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to include hospice staff within the same covid-19 testing regime as NHS and care home staff; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
From 2 December all registered hospices have access to regular weekly asymptomatic COVID-19 testing for staff and patients.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many care home residents in England have died from COVID-19 (1) in hospital, (2) in hospices, and (3) in residential care and nursing homes, in total to date.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.
The Rt Hon. the Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
04 February 2021
Dear Lord Hunt,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking how many care home residents in England have died from COVID-19 (1) in hospital, (2) in hospices, and (3) in residential care and nursing homes, in total to date (HL12649).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes mortality data that are compiled from information supplied when deaths are certified and registered as part of civil registration. The term ‘care home residents’ 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.
Table 1 below shows the number of deaths involving COVID-19 among care home residents by place of death, registered up to the 22nd January 2021 in England. We do not hold any information on the breakdown of residential or nursing homes therefore we have provided the number of care home residents who have died in a care home, which could be either residential or nursing care homes.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
Table 1: Number of deaths involving COVID-19 among care home residents by place of death registered up to 22nd January 2021, England[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Place of death | Number of deaths |
Care home | 23,324 |
Hospital | 8,012 |
Hospice | 70 |
Source: ONS
[1] All figures for 2020 and 2021 are provisional.
[2] Deaths for England exclude non-residents.
[3] The International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Edition (ICD-10) definitions are as follows: coronavirus (COVID-19) (U07.1 and U07.2).
[4] Deaths "involving COVID-19" includes deaths that had COVID-19 mentioned anywhere on the death certificate, whether as underlying cause or not.
[5] These figures are calculated using the most up-to-date data we have available to get the most accurate estimates.
[6] Based on boundaries as of November 2020.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to increase the level of financial support available for hospices to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We have provided over £150million in additional funding to the hospice sector to date during the pandemic and have made up to £200 million available to the sector for additional capacity between April and July, and we continue to work closely with hospices to support their essential work. alongside this, hospices have benefited from the financial support offered by HM Treasury to all charities, such as paying no business rates for their shops next year and applying for a Business Interruption Loan. Charities, alongside other sectors, can also access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the replacement Job Support Scheme and charity shops, which are already eligible for 80% charitable rate relief, will benefit from the new enhanced retail rate relief at 100%. We continue to keep the financial impact of COVID-19 on hospices under review.