Appeal for inquiry into shock increase in death rates
HEALTH EXPERTS have called for an inquiry into a “clear pattern” of rising death rates and worsening health in England and Wales.
They said there were more than 10,000 extra deaths in the first seven weeks of this year compared with the previous five years. Lucinda Hiam, of at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and Danny Dorling of the University of Oxford, said Office for National Statistics data showed a rise of 12.4 per cent. Writing in the British Medical
Journal (BMJ), they said the increase could not be explained by an ageing of the population, winter flu or cold weather.
A figure of 10,375 extra deaths this year was calculated using latest ONS figures compared to the average number of deaths in the same period in the previous five years.
The authors said: “Within the first seven weeks of 2018, some 93,990 people died in England and Wales. Over the same weeks in the previous five years, an average of 83,615 people died.
“Ageing is a slow process and leads to slow, not sudden, rises in mortality.
“An additional person died every seven minutes during the first 49 days of 2018 compared with what had been usual in the previous five years. Why?”
The academics said there was no official explanation as to why mortality rates were high in relation to previous years.
They wrote: “The past five years have been challenging in terms of health outcomes in the UK. Spending on health and social care year on year has increased at a much slower rate than in previous years.”
The article said mortality among infants from the poorest families in the UK had risen significantly since 2011.
There had also been a “rapid recent increase” in of deaths among mental health patients being looked after in care.
The authors said an investigation into mortality rates by the House of Commons health select committee had already been called for.
They said: “The figures for this year make the case for an investigation both stronger and more urgent with each passing day.”