Town toll of winter deaths is revealed

THERE WERE 270 winter deaths in Doncaster in one year, the latest figures have shown as bosses call on residents to stay safe during the cold months.

Health teams at Doncaster Council and the local NHS Clinical Commissioning Group have set out a strategy to stop around 10 people dying in the borough every week from cold homes.

The council’s public health team says the 10 deaths per week in 2016/17, the latest figures available, aren’t from hypothermia but from “sitting and sleeping in cold rooms”, which causes “existing medical conditions to get much worse”.

This is said to create a bigger risk of heart attacks, strokes and other life threatening illnesses.

The council is also urging eligible people to get their flu vaccination. Figures show vaccination coverage for Doncaster’s over 65s stood at 73.5 per cent, close to the national target of 75 per cent.

Carys Williams, public health improvement officer at Doncaster Council, said the term winter death was more broad than a vulnerable resident dying because they can’t heat their home.

“Cold-related ill health is complicated with a range of different vulnerable groups including, those with chronic and severe illness, older people, children under five and homeless people,” she said.

“Fuel poverty and cold homes are considered to be a major contributing factor to ill health in cold weather, however, behavioural factors are also important, such as our inability to adapt to cold weather in the UK. Winter weather and cold homes affect mobility and increase the likelihood of falls and injuries.”