{ "format" : "linked-data-api", "version" : "0.2", "result" : {"_about" : "https://eldaddp.azurewebsites.net/answeredquestions.text?max-ddpCreated=2020-05-14T20%3A01%3A36.763Z&houseId=2&min-AnswerDate=2019-02-25®isteredInterest=false", "definition" : "https://eldaddp.azurewebsites.net/meta/answeredquestions.text?max-ddpCreated=2020-05-14T20%3A01%3A36.763Z&houseId=2&min-AnswerDate=2019-02-25®isteredInterest=false", "extendedMetadataVersion" : "https://eldaddp.azurewebsites.net/answeredquestions.text?max-ddpCreated=2020-05-14T20%3A01%3A36.763Z&houseId=2&min-AnswerDate=2019-02-25®isteredInterest=false&_metadata=all", "first" : "https://eldaddp.azurewebsites.net/answeredquestions.text?_page=0&max-ddpCreated=2020-05-14T20%3A01%3A36.763Z&houseId=2&min-AnswerDate=2019-02-25®isteredInterest=false", "hasPart" : "https://eldaddp.azurewebsites.net/answeredquestions.text?max-ddpCreated=2020-05-14T20%3A01%3A36.763Z&houseId=2&min-AnswerDate=2019-02-25®isteredInterest=false", "isPartOf" : "https://eldaddp.azurewebsites.net/answeredquestions.text?max-ddpCreated=2020-05-14T20%3A01%3A36.763Z&houseId=2&min-AnswerDate=2019-02-25®isteredInterest=false", "items" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1195919", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Cabinet Office"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1195919/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.<\/p>

<\/p>

Dear Lord Alton,<\/p>

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what assessment has been made of the report by Adelina Comas-Herrera and Jose-Luis Fernandez at the London School of Economics England: Estimates of mortality of care home residents linked to the COVID-19 pandemic<\/em>, published on 12 May, which found that data on deaths in care homes directly attributed to COVID-19 underestimate the impact of the pandemic on care home residents, and that such data accounted for an estimated 41.6 per cent of all excess deaths in care homes; what assessment they have made of the accuracy of the data provided by the Office for National Statistics that 8,314 people had died from COVID-19 in care homes from 13 March to 8 May; what were the causes of the additional 10,000 recorded deaths in care homes during that period between 13 March and 1 May as set out in the report; and whether the total number of deaths over that period represents 18,000 more than the average estimate in previous years (HL4465)<\/strong>.<\/p>

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for publishing mortality statistics for deaths registered in England and Wales. The most recent year for which mortality statistics are available is 2018[1]. However, we do publish provisional statistics for weekly deaths registrations, which are currently published for deaths registered up to 8 May 2020[2]. National Records Scotland (NRS) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) are responsible for publishing the number of deaths registered in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.<\/p>

Cause of death is defined using the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th edition (ICD-10). Deaths involving COVID-19 are identified by the ICD-10 codes U07.1 and U07.2.<\/p>

We are working with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and Public Health England (PHE) to better understand deaths that are occurring in care homes. From 28 April 2020, we have published counts of deaths reported by care home operators to the CQC involving COVID-19, in our provisional statistics for weekly death registrations release. We have also provided information about the different data sources in our comparison article[3] that was last updated on 19 May 2020.<\/p>

The weekly mortality statistics published for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are all designated as National Statistics, meaning they meet the Code of Practice for official statistics requirements of trust, quality and value. The most up-to-date figures for the number of registered deaths in care homes in England and Wales involving COVID-19 are contained in the ONS weekly deaths bulletin[4] and accompanying dataset[5] published on 19 May 2020. The year-to-date analysis in this report showed there were 9,980 deaths involving COVID-19 in care homes up to the week ending 8 May 2020 (these figures represent provisional numbers for deaths where COVID-19 or suspected COVID-19 was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate). The analysis also showed there were 21,753 excess deaths that occurred in care homes up to the week ending 8 May 2020 as compared to the previous five-year average over the same period.<\/p>

On 15 May 2020, we published further analysis of deaths involving COVID-19 in the care sector in England and Wales[6]. This report provides breakdowns of deaths involving COVID-19 in the care sector, by: characteristics of the deceased; place of death; geographical location; leading cause of death; and, pre-existing conditions. Included are figures on the number of deaths of recipients of domiciliary care, derived from data provided by the Care Quality Commission.<\/p>

The analysis in this report found that since the beginning of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic (between the period 2 March and 1 May 2020, registered up to the 9 May 2020):<\/p>