You asked
Please provide:
- How many people have died in Croydon University Hospital from a direct result of COVID-19 without contributing factors? The published data mention deaths within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 result so they could have died from other factors. I would like to know the exact figure of deaths directly resulting from COVID-19 between 1st March 2020 until the 1st March 2021 and have not died from anything else.
- The percentage and number of people with 'underlying health conditions' in the overall total.
- Percentage and number of people without 'underlying health conditions'.
- Overall number of deaths without any contributing / underlying health conditions in the borough of Croydon.
- Percentage and number of people with 'underlying health conditions' in total in the borough of Croydon.
- Percentage and number of people without 'underlying health conditions' in total in the borough of Croydon.
We said
Thank you for your enquiry.
Deaths with and without pre-existing conditions:
Numbers and percentages of deaths where COVID-19 was recorded as the sole condition on the death certificate and COVID-19 deaths by main pre-existing condition, for England and Wales, are available in our Monthly mortality analysis, England and Wales publication and in the following dataset: Pre-existing conditions of people who died due to COVID-19 in England and Wales.
Deaths from COVID-19 with and without pre-existing conditions in the borough of Croydon and in Croydon University Hospital:
The data to which you are referring (deaths within 28 days of a positive test), are produced by Public Health England (PHE) and published via the government's COVID-19 dashboard. ONS data is different to that produced by PHE. 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. Please contact coronavirus-tracker@phe.gov.uk for queries about this data.
ONS provisional weekly deaths are derived from the formal process of death registration and may include cases where the doctor completing the death certificate diagnosed possible cases of COVID-19, for example, where this was based on relevant symptoms but no test for the virus was conducted. Guidance notes for doctors to follow when certifying a death, including best practice and the Coronavirus Act 2020, are available here: Completing a medical certificate of cause of death (MCCD).
We do not hold analysis breaking down those who have died from COVID-19 with and without pre-existing conditions by local authority area or by specific hospital. This is because to produce analysis at this granular level would be disclosive for the individuals involved and for the hospital in question. We have a strict policy of not releasing information held for statistical purposes that contains identifiable variables. Furthermore, 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 individuals and bodies corporate can be identified, 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.
However, you may find the following information useful:
The latest weekly COVID-19 mortality figures by local authority are available in our provisional weekly deaths publication, specifically, the following dataset: Death registrations and occurrences by local authority and health board.