According to the Office for National Statistics, the deaths at home in England or Wales between the outbreak of the pandemic and 24 September 2021 was 37% more than the average for 2015-2019.
Four people now die at home for every three who died in the past. This is more than 71,000 extra deaths. Only 8,500 of these were caused by Covid. While mortality elsewhere has fallen back to its previous levels, the death rate in private homes has remained high. The natural question is: Are these additional deaths or a shift to other places?
National Records of Scotland publishes excess deaths by location and major causes of mortality. The most recent data indicates that stroke, heart disease, and cancer are the leading causes for death. The combined death toll from these causes in 2021 was just 1% higher than the 2015-2019 average. There were an additional 260 deaths. These deaths at home were 36% more than in recent years. There was also a decrease in hospitals and care homes. These deaths at home were not an additional result of a significant, systematic shift in the way people died.
What was the cause of this change? And, perhaps even more important, how did these deaths differ from the norm? How many people died in their own homes, without fear of infection or pain, and who received intimate care and compassion from family members? These important questions are not answered by the existing statistics.
NHS England has tried to personalise its end-of-life care plan. Statistics gathered from patient records and surveys about the places people want to die can be distorted, allowing for missing responses. It is not clear if this shift to dying at home is a positive or a negative one.
Every family must deal with the death of a loved one and cope with the aftermath. Sam Royston, Marie Curie's director of policy research and policy, said that it was crucial that families who have to die at home receive all the support and assistance they require for a peaceful and comfortable death.
