Shocking figures 23 homeless people died in city last year
MORE than 20 homeless people are estimated to have died in Bristol in 2019, the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show.
The data shows the number of deaths hit a record high last year as homeless people in the city are dying at nearly four times the national rate.
There were an estimated 23 deaths of homeless people in Bristol in 2019, a 35 per cent increase from the previous two years when 17 deaths were estimated.
This means Bristol had the fourth highest number of estimated homeless deaths across local authorities in England and Wales in 2019, after Manchester (28), Liverpool (25) and Birmingham (25).
The number of homeless deaths in Bristol in 2019 was the highest since comparable records began in 2013, bringing the total number of homeless deaths in the city to 93 between 2013 and 2019.
The figures show that, in 2019, there were an estimated seven deaths in Bath and North East Somerset and four deaths in North Somerset while no deaths were recorded in South Gloucestershire.
The figures include not just those who died while sleeping rough, but also homeless people who were using emergency accommodation at or around the time of their death.
That takes Bristol’s estimated rate for 2019 to 66.4 deaths per million people, nearly four times the England and Wales estimated rate of 17.8.
London (144) and the North West of England (126) had the highest numbers of estimated deaths of homeless people in 2019.
However, when taking into account the size of the population, a different pattern emerges and the South West had the highest rate, with 26.9 deaths per one million people, after recording an estimated 111 deaths.
This means nearly a quarter of all homeless deaths in the South West in 2019 were recorded in Bristol.
The ONS said on its release: “Since the beginning of our time series in 2013, the crude death rate has more than doubled in four regions (the North West, Yorkshire and The Humber, the East, and the South West).
“Across deaths registered in England and Wales in 2019, the majority of identified deaths were in urban areas (96.1 per cent), consistent with data showing higher concentrations of rough sleeping in urban areas of England and Wales.”
A total of 289 estimated deaths of homeless people in 2019 were related to drug poisoning, that is, 37.1 per cent of all estimated deaths.
Suicide and alcohol-specific causes accounted for 14.4 per cent (112 deaths) and 9.8 per cent (76 deaths) of estimated deaths of homeless people in 2019 respectively.
The estimated number of suicides has increased by 30.2 per cent, from 86 deaths in 2018 to 112 deaths in 2019. Most of the deaths in 2019 were among men (687 estimated deaths; 88.3 per cent of the total).
Homelessness charity Crisis’s chief executive Jon Sparkes said the rise in suicides among homeless people was “shocking”.
He added: “It is devastating that hundreds of people died without the dignity of a stable home.
“Every one of these human beings will have had different lives, different characters and different stories.
“It is heartbreaking that what unites them is the systematic failure of successive governments.”