Latest reports show hundreds of excess deaths recorded in Bucks

Hundreds of excess deaths were reported in Bucks in the latest data compiled by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Analysis from National World shows, at a national level a majority of the excess deaths recorded were not Covid related.

A similar breakdown of the cases on a regional and local level isn't available currently.

In Bucks, the most recent statistics which cover December 2021, show 92 more people died than was typical in the county pre-Covid.

This represented a 25% increase on the previous average amount of deaths recorded in December between 2015 and 2019.

Out of the 307 council areas covered in the data, Bucks came 102nd when ranking the sites based on the biggest increases.

Figures covering the entirety of 2021 show that there were an excess of 687 deaths in comparison to expected numbers, in the local authority area.

Overall, 4,966 people lost their lives in the county last year.

This represents a 15% increase on pre-pandemic levels and was the 49th largest increase reported in the UK.

The highest increase in deaths reported in December was in Cherwell and Oxfordshire with a 73.% increase, Hambleton in North Yorkshire had the next highest increase in excess deaths in England.

Across 2021 as a whole, 62,130 extra deaths were recorded across the UK.

Nationally, between January and May, the number of Covid deaths exceeded the total number of excess deaths – but since then, the reverse has been true.

From June to December, 39,514 excess deaths were recorded compared to 22,040 Covid deaths.

Further analysis of ONS figures completed by National World shows deaths from flu and pneumonia are still far lower than usual – making the number of extra people dying from other conditions yet more pronounced.

December saw 588 excess deaths where dementia or Alzheimer’s was the cause across England and Wales (9.8% more than usual), and 491 extra deaths from coronary heart disease (10.4% higher).

However, deaths from both these causes were lower than average for 2021 as a whole.

An ONS spokesman told National World: “Throughout the pandemic we have responded to the need for data with timely and robust analysis of mortality.

“We will be providing more analysis of excess deaths in England and Wales across all age groups, causes and settings, to investigate what is driving the higher numbers of deaths we have seen which are not due to Covid-19.”

At the start of the pandemic, scientists and government ministers consistently said excess deaths would be the best measure of how well the UK had weathered the crisis, as it takes into account deaths indirectly caused by Covid or the national response to it.

This could include those who died because of delayed cancer treatment, or from conditions that were not picked up because people did not go to doctor’s appointments.

The Health Foundation charity says it is complicated to try to unpick Covid deaths from excess deaths from other causes.

Covid may have caused a genuine reduction in some other kinds of deaths, such as flu, with fewer people catching viruses due to better hygiene measures.

But apparent decreases in other deaths during the pandemic, such as lung cancer, may not be genuine.

The charity said that since the risk of developing lung cancer will not have changed during the pandemic, the drop is likely to reflect how delays in diagnosis meant the true cause of death was never recorded for some people.