FOI Ref: FOI/2021/3170
You asked
Please supply the following information:
How many vaccinated and how many unvaccinated been in the Gloucester Royal hospital in a monthly basis from March 2020 to October 2021.
How many unvaccinated and how many vaccinated people died in Gloucestershire in a monthly basis from June 2020 to October 2021.
Is it true that if someone had a positive test and died within 28 days for any reason, like fell off the ladder, went to the statistics like covid death?
If my work mandate to take part of the covid vaccine trial and I get injured from the vaccine and not able to work, is it true that I won't get paid and even the vaccine manufacturer not reliable about my injury and I can't claim any money from them, nor from my company or from the government who mandate it?
We said
Thank you for your enquiry.
Number of hospitalisations by vaccination status in Gloucester Royal hospital
Whilst we hold data on hospitalisations, unfortunately we would be unable to provide you with information about a specific hospital. We are unable to publish the data you have requested as it is considered personal information. Section 39 of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 (SRSA) renders it an offence to disclose information held by the Statistics Board for statistical purposes that would identify an individual or a body corporate. As we are prohibited by law from publishing statistics in which indivudals can be identified, we find that Section 44 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) applies. Section 44 is an absolute exemption and no consideration of the public interest test needs to be applied.
UK Health Security Agency publish a weekly surveillance report which looks at the impact on hospitalisations, infection, vaccine effectiveness and mortality.
Monthly number of deaths by vaccination status in Gloucestershire
Whilst we hold individual-level data on deaths and vaccination status, we do not hold monthly number of deaths by vaccination status in Gloucestershire. This requires complex data linkage to fulfil this request, we would need use a high level of statistical skill and judgement to create a bespoke analysis or table. Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Public Authorities are not obligated to create information to respond to requests. We therefore consider this to be information not held.
COVID-19 deaths involving external causes (i.e., fall from ladder)
ONS data as described here are different from the figures on COVID-19 deaths published on the government's COVID-19 dashboard which shows 'deaths within 28 days of a positive test'. You can read a blog by Professor John Newton of Public Health England about the complexities of counting COVID-19 deaths and the different methods used.
ONS Mortality data is derived from information collected at the point of death registration. The doctor or coroner certifying a death can record more than one health condition or event on the form. The medical certificate of cause of death has two parts, Part 1 contains the sequence of health conditions or events leading directly to death, while Part 2 can contain other health conditions that contributed to the death but were not part of the direct sequence.
For statistical purposes one of the health conditions on the certificate is chosen as the 'underlying cause of death'. The underlying cause of death is defined as the health condition or event that started the train of events leading to death and is worked out according to rules from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
If someone dies in circumstances involving an accident, violence or suspicious circumstances, the case is referred to a coroner for investigation. A post-mortem examination is carried out and usually an inquest is held. The Coroner's Court hears all the evidence and follows legal rules of evidence when deciding the causes of death. It is extremely unlikely that a coroner would find that someone who was involved in a fall or workplace accident, as a "COVID-19 death" just because of a positive COVID-19 test -- so they would not mention COVID-19 on the death certificate. This applies to any death caused by an accident, violence, poisoning, or other external causes.
Even if in an unusual case a death certificate mentioned both COVID-19 and a fall from height, the World Health Organisation (WHO) rules for coding deaths mean that the fall from height would be identified as the underlying cause of death in our data.
You can read in detail about the coding of causes of death and identifying the underlying cause in the ONS User guide to mortality statistics and the WHO International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) instruction manual.
Claims for injury due to COVID-19 vaccination
Unfortunately, we do not hold data on claims for injury due to a COVID-19 vaccination. UK Health Security Agency or Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency may be better placed to assist.