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.

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.

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.

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.

IntroductionLittle consideration has been given to how the provision of palliative and end-of-life care in care homes was affected by COVID-19. The aims of this study were to: (i) investigate the response of UK care homes in meeting the rapidly increasing need for palliative and end-of-life care during the COVID-19 pandemic and (ii) propose policy recommendations for strengthening the provision of palliative and end-of-life care within care homes.Materials and methodsA mixed methods observational study was conducted, which incorporated (i) an online cross-sectional survey of UK care homes and (ii) qualitative interviews with care home practitioners. Participants for the survey were recruited between April and September 2021. Survey participants indicating availability to participate in an interview were recruited using a purposive sampling approach between June and October 2021. Data were integrated through analytic triangulation in which we sought areas of convergence, divergence, and complementarity.ResultsThere were 107 responses to the survey and 27 interviews. We found that (i) relationship-centered care is crucial to high-quality palliative and end-of-life care within care homes, but this was disrupted during the pandemic. (ii) Care homes' ability to maintain high-quality relationship-centered care required key “pillars” being in place: integration with external healthcare systems, digital inclusion, and a supported workforce. Inequities within the care home sector meant that in some services these pillars were compromised, and relationship-centered care suffered. (iii) The provision of relationship-centered care was undermined by care home staff feeling that their efforts and expertise in delivering palliative and end-of-life care often went unrecognized/undervalued.ConclusionRelationship-centered care is a key component of high-quality palliative and end-of-life care in care homes, but this was disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic. We identify key policy priorities to equip care homes with the resources, capacity, and expertise needed to deliver palliative and end-of-life care: (i) integration within health and social care systems, (ii) digital inclusivity, (iii) workforce development, (iv) support for care home managers, and (v) addressing (dis)parities of esteem. These policy recommendations inform, extend, and align with policies and initiatives within the UK and internationally.

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.

The study will be expanding to other providers and care homes across England and will provide a detailed picture of prevalence, seroprevalence, transmission and potential immunity over time.By testing around 6500 staff and 5000 residents across >100 care homes in England, we will estimate the proportion who have been infected with COVID-19 in the past and have antibodies, and the proportion who are infected now. These tests will be repeated over time to learn how COVID-19 spreads in care homes and how long the antibody response lasts and whether this helps to prevent re-infection with the virus. In those who are currently infected, we will also collect information on who is experiencing symptoms to help us to understand how this affects spread of infection within care homes. We will find out about how infection spreads between care homes, the community and hospitals by linking the information we collect to national data on hospital admissions and deaths.

N.B.: The data within the VIVALDI 2 dataset is being examined and cleaned to improve its quality, this is ongoing work.

In 2023/24, the occupancy rate of care homes in the United Kingdom (UK) rose to **** percent, which is approaching pre-pandemic occupancy levels of 87-89 percent. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, the care home occupancy rate in the UK fell to an average of **** percent. These were the lowest occupancy rates recorded since 2006 and reflect the consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Support to providers that the council has contracts with. In addition to financial support the Council has developed a voluntary workforce scheme to support the care homes using volunteers sourced from both local authority staff and individuals from the voluntary and community sector. Several volunteers are currently working in the homes, with a number subsequently taking up full time employment as care workers. The City Council also operates a 24/7 Integrated Crisis Response Service to facilitate hospital discharges and community step up. If needed, this team can be redirected to support failing care homes as part of the Council’s emergency response service, in addition to the Council’s Reablement Service*(from Fee uplifts in dataset) The Council has paid fee uplifts to cover the additional operating costs of self-funder residents in care homes as well as those clients who are fully or part funded by Adult Social Care

The care home occupancy rate in the United Kingdom varied from one region to another. From 2019 to the first quarter of 2020, the occupancy rate of care homes ranged from **** percent in the South West to **** percent in Northern Ireland. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the occupancy of care homes has decreased in the second quarter of 2020. In London, for instance, the occupancy rate of care homes went down by **** percent.

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%. 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 daily reporting. The data can be presented both as reported deaths by day and death occurrences by day. Reported occurrences for recent days should be considered incomplete as likely to be revised upwards as more data becomes available. The location of a death reflects the location of the hospital in which it occurred. Source: NHS England COVID-19 Daily Deaths The Office for National Statistics publishes deaths for England and Wales by the week in which they were registered. Due to the delay between the occurrence of a death and its registration, many deaths that occur in a given week will appear in the data for a subsequent week. For 2018, ONS estimated that 74% of deaths were registered within seven days. Additional delays in registration can occur over public holidays, with significant changes in numbers being observable over Easter and Christmas. The location of a death reflects the usual residence of the deceased. There are some differences in total numbers reported for different geographical levels. The figures published at the local authority level have been used in this analysis. The data is updated each Tuesday at 9.30am with data for the week ending eleven days prior. For the 2020 series, ONS has included the number of deaths where coronavirus (COVID-19) was mentioned on the death certificate. This data includes deaths for all places of occurrence. The ONS started publishing deaths in care homes notified to the Care Quality Commission on 28th April for local authorities in England by date of notification. This data includes an additional week of data compared to the main ONS publication. Source: Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales, provisional, Death registrations and occurrences by local authority, Deaths in care homes notified to the Care Quality Commission, report

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.

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.

Care home locations have been collated across the UK and released as open data to support responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Overall CFR as of 27/09/2021 in each region of England, using the backward method and PHE data.

NHS UK - COVID-19 Daily Deaths

This section contains information on deaths of patients who have died in hospitals in England and had tested positive for COVID-19 at time of death. All deaths are recorded against the date of death rather than the date the deaths were announced. Interpretation of the figures should take into account the fact that totals by date of death, particularly for most recent days, are likely to be updated in future releases. For example as deaths are confirmed as testing positive for COVID-19, as more post-mortem tests are processed and data from them are validated. Any changes are made clear in the daily files.

These figures do not include deaths outside hospital, such as those in care homes. This approach makes it possible to compile deaths data on a daily basis using up to date figures.

Dataset Content

These figures will be updated at 2pm each day and include confirmed cases reported at 5pm the previous day. 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 original dataset is sourced directly from the NHS source site, this original dataset is then cleaned and converted to a csv format available for inclusion into a Kaggle notebook.

There are 3 files considered within the data :- 1. Fatalities_by_age_uk 2.Fatalities_by_region_uk 3.Fatalities_by_trust_uk

Data runs from March 1st up to the current day. Any discrepancies will be outlined. The first is cumulative for any previous days leading up to of relevance. The following days are not cumulative and represent the updated value for the date under consideration.

A start kernel is provided to demonstrate using the dataset.

Citations

This dataset is sourced from the NHS statistical work areas:- https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/

This dataset has been sourced and provided to aid in the following competition:- https://www.kaggle.com/c/covid19-global-forecasting-week-4