COVID-19 Insight 11: Our data

Page last updated: 12 May 2022
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Deaths notified by care homes

Care home COVID-19 deaths: seven-day moving average
Chart showing large rises in deaths during the two waves but numbers having fallen close to zero now

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Source: CQC death notifications submitted 10 April 2020 to 28 May 2021

The chart shows the number of death notifications of people in care homes flagged with COVID-19 submitted each day up to 28 May 2021, with a seven-day moving average line showing the smoothed trend. The numbers of deaths appear to have peaked in mid-January and have been steadily falling since then.

Deaths of people detained under the Mental Health Act (MHA)

All providers registered with CQC must notify us about deaths of people who are detained, or liable to be detained, under the MHA.* From 1 March 2020 to 4 June 2021, we have been notified of 166 deaths that mental health providers indicated were suspected or confirmed to be related to COVID-19 (an increase of one since we reported in May). A further eight COVID-19 related deaths of detained patients were reported by other (non-mental health) providers (no further recorded deaths since we last reported).**

* Includes detained patients on leave of absence, or absent without leave, from hospital, and conditionally discharged patients. ‘Detained patients’ also includes patients subject to holding powers such as s. 4, 5, 135 or 136, and patients recalled to hospital from CTO. These counts may also include notifications about the deaths of people subject to the MHA who are in the community and not in hospital.

** Data on notifications may be updated over time and therefore successive extracts may lead to changes in overall numbers unrelated to new cases. The chart shows the number of deaths by week of death.

Weekly MHA deaths in England (COVID-19 and non-COVID-19): 1 March 2020 to 4 June 2021
Chart showing COVID-19 deaths contributing to rise in numbers of MHA patients dying in both waves

Full screen version of this chart

Of the 557 notifications from mental health providers in the 2020/21 period (covering all causes of death from 1 March 2020 to 4 June 2021), 448 were from NHS organisations, of which 125 deaths were indicated as being COVID-19-related, and 109 were from independent providers, of which 41 deaths were COVID-19-related.

We have identified 33 detained patients whose deaths have been notified to us from 1 March to 4 June 2021 who had a learning disability and/or were autistic: the majority (22) were not identified as related to confirmed or suspected COVID-19. Of these people, most also had a mental health diagnosis. Please note that these patients were identified both from a specific box being ticked on the notification form and a review of diagnoses in the free text of the form.

Table showing all deaths of detained patients from 1 March to 4 June 2021, by age band and COVID-19 status
Age band 16-17 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75-84 85+ Unknown Total
Suspected or confirmed COVID-19 0 1 4 8 11 29 39 48 22 12 174
Not COVID-19 4 18 42 37 50 66 68 62 19 51 417
Total 4 19 46 45 61 95 107 110 41 63 591
Table showing all deaths of detained patients from 1 March 2020 to 4 June 2021, by gender and COVID-19 status
Gender Female Male Transgender Unknown or unspecified Total
Suspected or confirmed COVID-19 55 105 0 14 174
Not COVID-19 128 235 1 53 417
Total 183 340 1 67 591
Table showing all deaths of detained patients from 1 March 2020 to 4 June 2021, by ethnicity and COVID-19 status
Ethnicity Suspected or confirmed COVID-19 Not COVID-19
Asian 7 9
Black 21 30
Mixed 7 8
Other ethnic groups 1 3
White 98 235
Unknown 22 39
Not stated 18 93
Total 174 417
Table showing all deaths of detained patients from 1 March 2020 to 4 June 2021 by place of death and COVID-19 status
Place of death Suspected or confirmed COVID-19 Not COVID-19
Medical ward 119 132
Psychiatric ward 40 131
Hospital grounds 1 7
Patient’s home 0 37
Public place 0 8
Other household 0 3
Other 3 52
Not stated 11 47
Total 174 417
Total weekly deaths in 2020 and 2021 compared with the average for 2015-2019
Chart showing the contribution of COVID-19 to the increase in deaths in 2020 and 2021

Full screen version of this chart

Source: ONS COVID/non-COVID 2020 and 2021 death data and 2015-2019 death data. Week 20, 2021: week ending 28 May 2021.

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COVID-19 Insight: Issue 11


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