Provisional counts of the number of care home resident deaths registered in England and Wales, by region, including deaths involving coronavirus (COVID-19), in the latest weeks for which data are available.

Provisional counts of deaths in care homes caused by coronavirus (COVID-19) by local authority. Published by the Office for National Statistics and Care Quality Commission.

As of May 1 2020, there were over 23 thousand more deaths in care homes in England and Wales than there were on the same date in 2019, with 12.5 thousand of these caused by Coronavirus (COVID-19) and 10.6 thousand due to other causes.

Registered deaths of care home residents by underlying cause of death and the leading causes of death. Contains death registrations of care home residents by age, sex and area of usual residence.

In the week ending August 27, 2021, there were 10,268 deaths in England and Wales with just over 4.5 thousand taking place in Hospitals. Between April 10 and April 24 of 2020 there were over 15 thousand deaths occurring in care homes, due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Registered deaths in care homes in the United Kingdom. Contains death registrations in care homes by age, sex and leading cause of death.

In 2021, there were 15,200 residential adult social care homes in England, these establishments provide care and support for older and disabled people. That year, there were 11,900 non-residential adult care homes in England. Over the provided time interval the number of residential care homes decreased, while the number of non-residential care homes has increased since 2009.

As a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), there were over 15 thousand deaths in care homes in England and Wales between April 10 and April 24, 2020.

Model estimates of deaths involving the coronavirus (COVID-19) by ethnic group for people in care homes in England.

COVID-19 causes significant mortality in elderly and vulnerable people and spreads easily in care homes where one in seven individuals aged > 85 years live. However, there is no surveillance for infection in care homes, nor are there systems (or research studies) monitoring the impact of the pandemic on individuals or systems. Usual practices are disrupted during the pandemic, and care home staff are taking on new and unfamiliar roles, such as advanced care planning. Understanding the nature of these changes is critical to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on residents, relatives and staff. 20 care homes staff members were interviewed using semi-structured interviews.

The COVID-19 pandemic poses a substantial risk to elderly and vulnerable care home residents and COVID-19 can spread rapidly in care homes. We have national, daily data on people with COVID-19 and deaths, but there is no similar data for care homes. This makes it difficult to know the scale of the problem, and plan how to keep care home residents safe. We also want to understand the impact of COVID-19 on care home staff and residents. Researchers from University College London (UCL) will measure the number of cases of COVID-19 in care homes, using data from Four Seasons Healthcare, a large care home chain. FSHC remove residents' names and addresses before sending the dataset to UCL, protecting resident's confidentiality. Since we cannot visit care homes during the pandemic, we will hold virtual (online) discussion meetings with care home stakeholders (staff, residents, relatives, General Practice teams) every 6-8 weeks, to learn rapid lessons about managing COVID-19 in care homes and identify pragmatic solutions. Our findings will be shared with FHSC, GPs and Public Health England, patients and the public, and support the national response to COVID-19. Patients and the public will be involved in all stages of the research.

There were 667,479 deaths in the United Kingdom in 2021, compared with 689,629 in 2020. Between 2003 and 2011, the annual number of deaths in the UK fell from 612,085 to just over 552,232. Since 2011 however, the annual number of annual deaths in the United Kingdom has steadily grown, with the number recorded in 2020, the highest since 1918 when there were 715,246 deaths. Both of these spikes in the number of deaths can be attributed to infectious disease pandemics. The great influenza pandemic of 1918, which was at its height towards the end of World War One, and the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused a large number of deaths in 2020.  Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic The weekly death figures for England and Wales highlight the tragic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic. In two weeks in April of 2020, there were 22,351 and 21,997 deaths respectively, almost 12,000 excess deaths in each of those weeks. Although hospitals were the most common location of these deaths, a significant number of these deaths also took place in care homes, with 7,911 deaths taking place in care homes for the week ending April 24, 2020, far higher than usual. By the summer of 2020, the number of deaths in England and Wales reached more usual levels, before a second wave of excess deaths hit the country in early 2021. Although subsequent waves of COVID-19 cases resulted in far fewer deaths, the number of excess deaths remained elevated throughout 2022. Long-term life expectancy trends As of 2022 the life expectancy for men in the United Kingdom was 78.57, and almost 82.57 for women, compared with life expectancies of 75 for men and 80 for women in 2002. In historical terms, this is a major improvement in relation to the mid 18th century, when the overall life expectancy was just under 39 years. Between 2011 and 2017, improvements in life expectancy in the UK did start to decline, and have gone into reverse since 2018/20. Between 2020 and 2022 for example, life expectancy for men in the UK has fallen by over 37 weeks, and by almost 23 weeks for women, when compared with the previous year.

Based on a comparison of coronavirus deaths in 210 countries relative to their population, Peru had the most losses to COVID-19 up until July 13, 2022. As of the same date, the virus had infected over 557.8 million people worldwide, and the number of deaths had totaled more than 6.3 million. Note, however, that COVID-19 test rates can vary per country. Additionally, big differences show up between countries when combining the number of deaths against confirmed COVID-19 cases. The source seemingly does not differentiate between "the Wuhan strain" (2019-nCOV) of COVID-19, "the Kent mutation" (B.1.1.7) that appeared in the UK in late 2020, the 2021 Delta variant (B.1.617.2) from India or the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) from South Africa.

The difficulties of death figures

This table aims to provide a complete picture on the topic, but it very much relies on data that has become more difficult to compare. As the coronavirus pandemic developed across the world, countries already used different methods to count fatalities, and they sometimes changed them during the course of the pandemic. On April 16, for example, the Chinese city of Wuhan added a 50 percent increase in their death figures to account for community deaths. These deaths occurred outside of hospitals and went unaccounted for so far. The state of New York did something similar two days before, revising their figures with 3,700 new deaths as they started to include “assumed” coronavirus victims. The United Kingdom started counting deaths in care homes and private households on April 29, adjusting their number with about 5,000 new deaths (which were corrected lowered again by the same amount on August 18). This makes an already difficult comparison even more difficult. Belgium, for example, counts suspected coronavirus deaths in their figures, whereas other countries have not done that (yet). This means two things. First, it could have a big impact on both current as well as future figures. On April 16 already, UK health experts stated that if their numbers were corrected for community deaths like in Wuhan, the UK number would change from 205 to “above 300”. This is exactly what happened two weeks later. Second, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly which countries already have “revised” numbers (like Belgium, Wuhan or New York) and which ones do not. One work-around could be to look at (freely accessible) timelines that track the reported daily increase of deaths in certain countries. Several of these are available on our platform, such as for Belgium, Italy and Sweden. A sudden large increase might be an indicator that the domestic sources changed their methodology.

Where are these numbers coming from?

The numbers shown here were collected by Johns Hopkins University, a source that manually checks the data with domestic health authorities. For the majority of countries, this is from national authorities. In some cases, like China, the United States, Canada or Australia, city reports or other various state authorities were consulted. In this statistic, these separately reported numbers were put together. For more information or other freely accessible content, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

Due to changes in the collection and availability of data on COVID-19 this page will no longer be updated. The webpage will no longer be available as of 11 May 2023. On-going, reliable sources of data for COVID-19 are available via the COVID-19 dashboard, Office for National Statistics, and the UKHSA This page provides a weekly summary of data on deaths related to COVID-19 published by NHS England and the Office for National Statistics. More frequent reporting on COVID-19 deaths is now available here, alongside data on cases, hospitalisations, and vaccinations. This update contains data on deaths related to COVID-19 from: NHS England COVID-19 Daily Deaths - last updated on 28 June 2022 with data up to and including 27 June 2022. ONS weekly deaths by Local Authority - last updated on 16 August 2022 with data up to and including 05 August 2022. Summary notes about each these sources are provided at the end of this document. Note on interpreting deaths data: statistics from the available sources differ in definition, timing and completeness. It is important to understand these differences when interpreting the data or comparing between sources. Weekly Key Points An additional 24 deaths in London hospitals of patients who had tested positive for COVID-19 and an additional 5 where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate were announced in the week ending 27 June 2022. This compares with 40 and 3 for the previous week. A total of 306 deaths in hospitals of patients who had tested positive for COVID-19 and 27 where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate were announced for England as whole. This compares with 301 and 26 for the previous week. The total number of COVID-19 deaths reported in London hospitals of patients who had tested positive for COVID-19 is now 19,102. The total number of deaths in London hospitals where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate is now 1,590. This compares to figures of 119,237 and 8,197 for English hospitals as a whole. Due to the delay between death occurrence and reporting, the estimated number of deaths to this point will be revised upwards over coming days These figures do not include deaths that occurred outside of hospitals. Data from ONS has indicated that the majority (79%) of COVID-19 deaths in London have taken place in hospitals. Recently announced deaths in Hospitals 21 June 22 June 23 June 24 June 25 June 26 June 27 June London No positive test 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 London Positive test 3 7 2 10 0 0 2 Rest of England No positive test 2 6 4 4 0 0 6 Rest of England Positive test 47 49 41 58 6 0 81 16 May 23 May 30 May 06 June 13 June 20 June 27 June London No positive test 14 3 4 0 4 3 5 London Positive test 45 34 55 20 62 40 24 Rest of England No positive test 41 58 33 23 47 23 22 Rest of England Positive test 456 375 266 218 254 261 282 Deaths by date of occurrence 21 June 22 June 23 June 24 June 25 June 26 June 27 June London 20,683 20,686 20,690 20,691 20,692 20,692 20,692 Rest of England 106,604 106,635 106,679 106,697 106,713 106,733 106,742 Interpreting the data The data published by NHS England are incomplete due to: delays in the occurrence and subsequent reporting of deaths deaths occurring outside of hospitals not being included The total deaths reported up to a given point are therefore less than the actual number that have occurred by the same point. Delays in reporting NHS provide the following guidance regarding the delay between occurrence and reporting of deaths: Confirmation of COVID-19 diagnosis, death notification and reporting in central figures can take up to several days and the hospitals providing the data are under significant operational pressure. This means that the totals reported at 5pm on each day may not include all deaths that occurred on that day or on recent prior days. The data published by NHS England for reporting periods from April 1st onward includes both date of occurrence and date of reporting and so it is possible to illustrate the distribution of these reporting delays. This data shows that approximately 10% of COVID-19 deaths occurring in London hospitals are included in the reporting period ending on the same day, and that approximately two-thirds of deaths were reported by two days after the date of occurrence. Deaths outside of hospitals The data published by NHS England does not include deaths that occur outside of hospitals, i.e. those in homes, hospices, and care homes. ONS have published data for deaths by place of occurrence. This shows that, up to 05 August, 79% of deaths in London recorded as involving COVID-19 occurred in hospitals (this compares with 44% for all causes of death). This would suggest that the NHS England data may underestimate overall deaths from COVID-19 by around 20%. Number of deaths Proportion of deaths Week ending Hospital Care home Home Other Hospital Care home Home Other 06 Mar 2020 1 1 0 0 50% 50% 0% 0% 13 Mar 2020 13 0 4 0 76% 0% 24% 0% 20 Mar 2020 148 9 11 0 88% 5% 7% 0% 27 Mar 2020 610 45 53 14 84% 6% 7% 2% 03 Apr 2020 1,215 132 143 27 80% 9% 9% 2% 10 Apr 2020 1,495 282 162 32 76% 14% 8% 2% 17 Apr 2020 1,076 295 101 29 72% 20% 7% 2% 24 Apr 2020 669 210 72 35 68% 21% 7% 4% 01 May 2020 348 125 43 15 66% 24% 8% 3% 08 May 2020 261 93 29 16 65% 23% 7% 4% 15 May 2020 152 51 22 5 66% 22% 10% 2% 22 May 2020 93 51 10 3 59% 32% 6% 2% 29 May 2020 62 25 7 6 62% 25% 7% 6% 05 Jun 2020 53 23 4 1 65% 28% 5% 1% 12 Jun 2020 27 11 9 3 54% 22% 18% 6% 19 Jun 2020 22 7 6 2 59% 19% 16% 5% 26 Jun 2020 14 14 5 1 41% 41% 15% 3% 03 Jul 2020 10 5 2 5 45% 23% 9% 23% 10 Jul 2020 15 3 0 1 79% 16% 0% 5% 17 Jul 2020 8 7 2 0 47% 41% 12% 0% 24 Jul 2020 15 1 0 2 83% 6% 0% 11% 31 Jul 2020 6 2 1 0 67% 22% 11% 0% 07 Aug 2020 6 2 0 1 67% 22% 0% 11% 14 Aug 2020 7 4 2 1 50% 29% 14% 7% 21 Aug 2020 4 0 0 0 100% 0% 0% 0% 28 Aug 2020 1 2 0 0 33% 67% 0% 0% 04 Sep 2020 3 0 1 0 75% 0% 25% 0% 11 Sep 2020 7 2 0 1 70% 20% 0% 10% 18 Sep 2020 9 2 1 0 75% 17% 8% 0% 25 Sep 2020 23 3 3 0 79% 10% 10% 0% 02 Oct 2020 27 3 2 0 84% 9% 6% 0% 09 Oct 2020 36 3 3 0 86% 7% 7% 0% 16 Oct 2020 41 0 2 0 95% 0% 5% 0% 23 Oct 2020 47 4 4 0 85% 7% 7% 0% 30 Oct 2020 91 3 5 1 91% 3% 5% 1% 06 Nov 2020 93 7 5 2 87% 7% 5% 2% 13 Nov 2020 109 11 10 2 83% 8% 8% 2% 20 Nov 2020 162 5 8 4 91% 3% 4% 2% 27 Nov 2020 175 8 14 5 87% 4% 7% 2% 04 Dec 2020 190 10 13 10 85% 4% 6% 4% 11 Dec 2020 199 9 13 6 88% 4% 6% 3% 18 Dec 2020 267 15 25 4 86% 5% 8% 1% 25 Dec 2020 403 30 43 7 83% 6% 9% 1% 01 Jan 2021 677 35 109 28 80% 4% 13% 3% 08 Jan 2021 959 73 167 36 78% 6% 14% 3% 15 Jan 2021 1,125 84 165 39 80% 6% 12% 3% 22 Jan 2021 1,163 96 142 43 81% 7% 10% 3% 29 Jan 2021 863 82 101 28 80% 8% 9% 3% 05 Feb 2021 605 70 59 38 78% 9% 8% 5% 12 Feb 2021 439 29 49 14 83% 5% 9% 3% 19 Feb 2021 338 29 33 12 82% 7% 8% 3% 26 Feb 2021 214 19 19 11 81% 7% 7% 4% 05 Mar 2021 141 11 19 5 80% 6% 11% 3% 12 Mar 2021 99 9 7 1 85% 8% 6% 1% 19 Mar 2021 65 10 1 1 84% 13% 1% 1% 26 Mar 2021 41 9 4 2 73% 16% 7% 4% 02 Apr 2021 35 5 4 0 80% 11% 9% 0% 09 Apr 2021 29 2 3 0 85% 6% 9% 0% 16 Apr 2021 24 6 2 0 75% 19% 6% 0% 23 Apr 2021 14 1 0 0 93% 7% 0% 0% 30 Apr 2021 13 1 1 0 87% 7% 7% 0% 07 May 2021 14 3 0 0 82% 18% 0% 0% 14 May 2021 6 2 0 0 75% 25% 0% 0% 21 May 2021 8 1 1 0 80% 10% 10% 0% 28 May 2021 11 1 2 1 73% 7% 13% 7% 04 Jun 2021 9 0 0 0 100% 0% 0% 0% 11 Jun 2021 11 3 0 0 79% 21% 0% 0% 18 Jun 2021 11 4 2 1 61% 22% 11% 6% 25 Jun 2021 10 0 0 1 91% 0% 0% 9% 02 Jul 2021 14 1 2 0 82% 6% 12% 0% 09 Jul 2021 12 1 4 1 67% 6% 22% 6% 16 Jul 2021 18 3 2 0 78% 13% 9% 0% 23 Jul 2021 48 0 7 1 86% 0% 12% 2% 30 Jul 2021 49 2 4 4 83% 3% 7% 7% 06 Aug 2021 66 1 9 1 86% 1% 12% 1% 13 Aug 2021 60 1 12 1 81% 1% 16% 1% 20 Aug 2021 84 1 5 1 92% 1% 5% 1% 27 Aug 2021 78 3 10 3 83% 3% 11% 3% 03 Sep 2021 85 3 7 1 89% 3% 7% 1% 10 Sep 2021 83 2 10 2 86% 2% 10% 2% 17 Sep 2021 65 2 9 1 84% 3% 12% 1% 24 Sep 2021 76 5 5 0 88% 6% 6% 0% 01 Oct 2021 88 2 15 1 83% 2% 14% 1% 08 Oct 2021 65 2 7 1 87% 3% 9% 1% 15 Oct 2021 62 1 9 4 82% 1% 12% 5% 22 Oct 2021 64 2 11 2 81% 3% 14% 3% 29 Oct 2021 66 3 11 1 81% 4% 14% 1% 05 Nov 2021 67 3 10 5 79% 4% 12% 6% 12 Nov 2021 84 2 12 1 85% 2% 12% 1% 19 Nov 2021 63 2 2 0 94% 3% 3% 0% 26 Nov 2021 68 2 8 0 87% 3% 10% 0% 03 Dec 2021 72 2 10 1 85% 2% 12% 1% 10 Dec 2021 81 3 12 4 81% 3% 12% 4% 17 Dec 2021 91 1 12 3 85% 1% 11% 3% 24 Dec 2021 101 8 15 3 80% 6% 12% 2% 31 Dec 2021 129 11 19 6 78% 7% 12% 4% 07 Jan 2022 178 18 19 4 81% 8% 9% 2% 14 Jan 2022 194 23 16 14 79% 9% 6% 6% 21 Jan 2022 165 25 11 4 80% 12% 5% 2% 28 Jan 2022 119 20 13 5 76% 13% 8% 3% 04 Feb 2022 97 13 8 2 81% 11% 7% 2% 11 Feb 2022 51 10 6 6 70% 14% 8% 8% 18 Feb 2022 62 6 9 3 78% 8% 11% 4% 25 Feb 2022 55 2 2 1 92% 3% 3% 2% 04 Mar 2022 47 2 2 2 89% 4% 4% 4% 11 Mar 2022 48 3 4 0 87% 5% 7% 0% 18 Mar 2022 60 7 8 4 76% 9% 10% 5% 25 Mar 2022 51 11 5 2 74% 16% 7% 3% 01 Apr 2022 60 8 5 2 80% 11% 7% 3% 08 Apr 2022 78 4 7 3 85% 4% 8% 3% 15 Apr 2022 74 6 6 3 83% 7% 7% 3% 22 Apr 2022 58 10 7 6 72% 12% 9% 7% 29 Apr 2022 39 8 3 4 72% 15% 6% 7% 06 May 2022 44 3 4 0 86% 6% 8% 0% 13 May 2022 29 2 4 2 78% 5% 11% 5% 20 May 2022 16 4 0 2 73% 18% 0% 9% 27 May 2022 34 3 3 1 83% 7% 7% 2% 03 Jun 2022 18 1 1 0 90% 5% 5% 0% 10 Jun 2022 18 1 3 0 82% 5% 14% 0% 17 Jun 2022 22 1 2 0 88% 4% 8% 0% 24 Jun 2022 33 2 3 1 85% 5% 8% 3% 01 Jul 2022 33 2 2 0 89% 5% 5% 0% 08 Jul 2022 51 4 4 4 81% 6% 6% 6% 15 Jul 2022 60 5 4 2 85% 7% 6% 3% 22 Jul 2022 71 9 10 3 76% 10% 11% 3% 29 Jul 2022 48 7 9 0 75% 11% 14% 0% 05 Aug 2022 35 1 3 4 81% 2% 7% 9% Total 18,924 2,390 2,152 634 79% 10% 9% 3% Comparison with all cause mortality Comparison of data sources Note on data sources NHS England provides numbers of patients who have died in hospitals in England and had tested positive for COVID-19, and from 25 April, the number of patients where COVID-19 is mentioned on the death certificate and no positive COVID-19 test result was received. Figures are updated each day at 2pm with deaths reported up to 5pm the previous day. There is a delay between the occurrence of a death to it being captured in the

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The National Survey of Bereaved People (VOICES - Views of Informal Carers - Evaluation of Services) is an annual survey designed to measure the quality of end of life care. The VOICES survey particularly focuses on the last three months of life. Results are used to inform policy decisions and enable evaluation of the quality of end of life care by age group, sex, in different settings (home, hospital, care homes and hospices) and by different causes of death. Quality of end of life care is also included as an indicator in the NHS Outcomes Framework and the VOICES survey is used to monitor progress against this.

The Department of Health (DH) first commissioned the survey in 2011 to follow up on a commitment made in the End of Life Care Strategy. Previously, very little systematic information was available about the quality of care delivered to people approaching the end of life, despite reports from the Healthcare Commission and the Neuberger review highlighting deficiencies in care. The commissioning responsibility for the survey moved from DH to NHS England following the restructuring of the Health and Care systems in England in April 2013.

Each year a sample of approximately 49,000 adults who died in England is selected from the deaths registration database held by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). To ensure the sample represents the deaths in England for the given period and covers the key domains of interest, the sample is stratified according to the cause of death, place of death and geography. For the 2011 and 2012 surveys, geography was based on Primary Care Trust (PCT) clusters. For the 2013 survey onwards, this is based on NHS Area Teams (NHS Area Team 2013 has also been applied to the earlier datasets).

The VOICES questionnaire is sent by post to the person who registered the death of the deceased; this is usually a relative or friend of the deceased. Questionnaires are sent out between 4 and 11 months after the patient has died. As is standard in most postal surveys, if no response is received, this first questionnaire is then followed up with two reminders. Once fieldwork, data capture, cleaning and processing are complete, findings are disseminated at both the national and sub-national level.

Further information about the survey and links to related publications may be found on the ONS National Bereavement Survey (VOICES) QMI webpage.

End User Licence and Secure Access versions available
The UK Data Service holds standard End User Licence (EUL) and Secure Access versions of the National Survey of Bereaved People data. EUL data are available to registered users but Secure Access data are only available to ONS Accredited Researchers (in addition, project approval and successful completion of a stringent training course are required before access can be granted). The Secure Access version contains finer detail variables (e.g. IMD deciles as opposed to quintiles in the EUL data, Strategic Clinical Network in addition to NHS Area Teams, and more detailed information on age, causes, dates and place of death). Users are strongly advised to check whether the EUL data are sufficient for their research needs before making an application for the Secure Access version.


Main Topics:
Date, cause and place of death; quality and standards of medical, nursing, social and pastoral care in the last three months of life; support for relatives/carers; demographics of deceased person and respondent.

The proportion of deaths from all causes (for ages < 1yr all deaths, including where no cause is recorded; for ages >= 1 yr ICD-10 A00-Y99 equivalent to ICD-9 001-E999) that occur at home. To improve palliative care and service planning for patients in the terminal stages of life, allowing more of them the choice of dying at home. Legacy unique identifier: P00778

The National Survey of Bereaved People (VOICES - Views of Informal Carers - Evaluation of Services) is an annual survey designed to measure the quality of end of life care. The VOICES survey particularly focuses on the last three months of life. Results are used to inform policy decisions and enable evaluation of the quality of end of life care by age group, sex, in different settings (home, hospital, care homes and hospices) and by different causes of death. Quality of end of life care is also included as an indicator in the NHS Outcomes Framework and the VOICES survey is used to monitor progress against this.

The Department of Health (DH) first commissioned the survey in 2011 to follow up on a commitment made in the End of Life Care Strategy. Previously, very little systematic information was available about the quality of care delivered to people approaching the end of life, despite reports from the Healthcare Commission and the Neuberger review highlighting deficiencies in care. The commissioning responsibility for the survey moved from DH to NHS England following the restructuring of the Health and Care systems in England in April 2013.

Each year a sample of approximately 49,000 adults who died in England is selected from the deaths registration database held by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). To ensure the sample represents the deaths in England for the given period and covers the key domains of interest, the sample is stratified according to the cause of death, place of death and geography. For the 2011 and 2012 surveys, geography was based on Primary Care Trust (PCT) clusters. For the 2013 survey onwards, this is based on NHS Area Teams (NHS Area Team 2013 has also been applied to the earlier datasets).

The VOICES questionnaire is sent by post to the person who registered the death of the deceased; this is usually a relative or friend of the deceased. Questionnaires are sent out between 4 and 11 months after the patient has died. As is standard in most postal surveys, if no response is received, this first questionnaire is then followed up with two reminders. Once fieldwork, data capture, cleaning and processing are complete, findings are disseminated at both the national and sub-national level.

Further information about the survey and links to related publications may be found on the ONS National Bereavement Survey (VOICES) QMI webpage.

End User Licence and Secure Access versions available
The UK Data Service holds standard End User Licence (EUL) and Secure Access versions of the National Survey of Bereaved People data. EUL data are available to registered users but Secure Access data are only available to ONS Accredited Researchers (in addition, project approval and successful completion of a stringent training course are required before access can be granted). The Secure Access version contains finer detail variables (e.g. IMD deciles as opposed to quintiles in the EUL data, Strategic Clinical Network in addition to NHS Area Teams, and more detailed information on age, causes, dates and place of death). Users are strongly advised to check whether the EUL data are sufficient for their research needs before making an application for the Secure Access version.