Thousands left to die in isolation as services hit by virus

THOUSANDS MORE people are dying at home from dementia, cancer and heart conditions as they struggle with isolation, fear of coronavirus and “disrupted” health services, new figures show.

Deaths from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in private homes in England rose 79 per cent during the coronavirus pandemic, the Office for National Statistics ( ONS) said.

Therewere2,095 excessdeaths from these conditions registered between March 14 and September 11 – up 79 per cent compared with the average for the same period over the past five years.

In Wales, there was a 94 per cent rise, with 133 excess deaths involving dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Deaths from cerebral palsy, heart rhythm problems, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease also increased more than 70 per cent in England.

Over the same period, there were 24,387 excess deaths in private homes in England and 1,644 in Wales compared with the fiveyear average. The majority were unrelated to Covid- 19, and charities said access to care may have contributed.

In both countries, deaths in care homes were above the average, while deaths in hospitals and hospices fell below it, suggesting that the “distribution of deaths between the different places of occurrence has shifted”.

Sir David Spiegelhalter, chairman of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication, University of Cambridge, said: “Non- Covid deaths in hospital have correspondingly declined, suggesting most of these deaths would normally have occurred in hospital, and people have either been reluctant to go, discouraged from attending, or the services have been disrupted.”

He added that it is “unclear how many of these lives could have been extended had they gone to hospital”.

Fiona Carragher, director of research and influencing at Alzheimer’s Society said: “We already knew people with dementia have been worst hit not only by the virus itself, dying in their thousands, but also by the dreadful side- effects of lockdown.”