Christmas Carol ...the real life tragedies
SCORES OF ROUGH SLEEPERS DEAD IN LAST FIVE YEARS
SCORES of homeless people in the North East have died in the last five years, new figures have revealed.
Official data released for the first time by the Office for National Statistics has shown that an estimated 120 homeless people in the region died between 2013 and 2017.
The figures mainly include people sleeping rough at or around the time of death, but also include those using emergency accommodation such as homeless shelters and direct access hostels.
The ONS say that the method used provides a robust but conservative estimate, so the real numbers may still be higher.
The figures also suggest that the situation is getting worse, with an estimated 32 homeless people dying last year alone – up from 24 in 2016 and 14 in 2015.
Across England and Wales, 2,627 homeless people died between 2013 and 2017.
Around 40% of the deaths seen over the last five years were deemed accidents, but one in every 10 were due to intentional self-harm.
Some 835 people died from either accidental or intentional drug overdoses – nearly a third of the total number of deaths.
Opiates such as heroin, morphine and methadone proved the most deadly – responsible for 507 deaths over the five years.
Cocaine and benzodiazepine (sleeping pills) were responsible for 70 and 85 deaths respectively.
Meanwhile, at least 282 homeless people died from alcohol poisoning between 2013 and 2017.
Other causes of death included assault (24 deaths), flu and pneumonia (49) and HIV (six).
Homeless men aged 45-49 were the most at risk, with 340 losing their lives in the last five years.
However, 24 teenagers aged 15 to 19 also died in 2013-17 – 21 boys and three girls.
London and the North West had by far the largest numbers of deaths of homeless people in 2017 out of the English regions, with 136 and 119 esti-
mated deaths respectively.
London had more than one-fifth (23%) of the estimated total number of homeless deaths in England and Wales.
In contrast, Wales had fewer deaths than any of the regions of England (13 in 2017).
Generally, February proved the deadliest time of year, with 253 homeless people dying during the month, followed by December (242) and March (239).
Greg Beales, campaign director at Shelter said: “This appalling loss of life should be a source of national shame.
“There is nothing inevitable about homelessness or about these tragic deaths which are a consequence of a housing system which fails too many people.
“This new research from the ONS shows 597 people died homeless in one year. It doesn’t have to be this way.
“Our crippling shortage of social housing and a threadbare safety net are at the root of this national emergency and we call on Government to make this year a turning point in the fight to ensure that there is a safe home for all those who need it.”