Excess Deaths in the UK

A look where people are dying

Western governments employed their mainstream media friends as minarets to push those nudge messages at us 24x7. One of the messages, surprisingly consistent across the world, has been to save the health system from becoming overwhelmed. After all, who wants to front up at a hospital and be told there’s no room. Sorry. Try us later.

In the UK the messaging was this:

Fairly unambiguous.

If you stay home, you’ll save the NHS, and this will save lives. It is really the NHS’s job is to save people rather than the other way around, so this messaging represents an inversion of the accepted function of a health system.

But, STAY HOME the plucky UK folks did.

In droves.

The question we should therefore ask is did this: Did their staying home save lives?

Answering that question with a lens over place of death is a little inconclusive. This ‘all places’ chart is effectively all excess deaths by week.

What about deaths in hospital?

Excess deaths in hospital appear more prevalent in the winter months, and less so in the summer months.

What about hospices?

This is a little more conclusive. Strongly negative excess deaths at hospices.

Hospitals and hospices are well equipped to provide humane care to those most critically ill and near death. In this instance it looks like those facilities have not been used particularly well.

At the other end of the care spectrum, dying at home is probably something I’d be happy with if it was peacefully in my sleep. Otherwise, if it’s ok with you, I’d rather be somewhere with specialist care and equipment.

So let’s turn our attention to deaths at home.

Every week since the start of the pandemic people have been dying in droves at home.

The question is why? I am planning to extract all this data and do some further analysis.