FOI REF: FOI-2023-1522
You asked
Please can I request the following data:
- Deaths in in England and Wales in 2022 for the following ICD codes: C00, C01, C02, C03, C04, C05, C06, C09, C10, C12, C13, and C14
Specifically, can the above data be based on Deaths registered summary statistics, England and Wales: 2022 published on 11 April 2023.
Provided in the same capacity to:
- Sheet 2: Number of deaths registered by year and area of usual residence, 2001 to 2022, England and Wales.
- Sheet 3: Number of deaths registered by sex, age group and ONS short list of cause of death code, 2022, England and Wales.
- Sheet 4: Number and proportion of all deaths registered by leading cause, sex and age group, 2022, England and Wales.
We said
Thank you for your request.
We are responsible for the production of mortality data for England and Wales, this is driven by information collected from the death certificate at death registration.
All of the conditions mentioned on the death certificate are coded using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). From all of these causes an underlying cause of death is selected using ICD-10 coding rules. The underlying cause of death is defined by WHO as:
a) the disease or injury that initiated the train of events directly leading to death, or
b) the circumstances of the accident or violence that produced the fatal injury
The number of deaths due to the C codes in England and Wales in 2022 are as follows:
- C00 - 22
- C01 - 66
- C02 - 850
- C03 - 77
- C04 - 78
- C05 - 90
- C06 - 326
- C09 - 339
- C10 - 472
- C12 - 72
- C13 - 240
- C14 - 167
This information for 2022, along with aggregation of area, sex and age group will be available via NOMIS once the Deaths registered in England and Wales: 2022 publication is released.
As such, this information is exempt under Section 22(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, whereby information is exempt from release if there is a view to publish the information in the future. As a central government department and producer of official statistics, we need to have the freedom to be able to determine our own publication timetables. This is to allow us to deal with the necessary preparation, administration and context of publications. It would be unreasonable to consider disclosure when to do so would undermine our functions.
This exemption is subject to a public interest test. We recognise the desirability of information being freely available and this is considered by ONS when publication schedules are set in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. The need for timely data must be balanced against the practicalities of applying statistical skill and judgement to produce the high quality, assured data needed to inform decision-making. If this balance is incorrectly applied, then we run the risk of decisions being based on inaccurate data which is arguably not in the public interest. This will have an impact on public trust in official statistics in a time when accuracy of official statistics is more important to the public than ever before.
Once this has been published, if you require any further aggregation of mortality data for 2022, we can create a custom output via our bespoke services route. Special extracts and tabulations of mortality data for England and Wales are available to order (subject to legal frameworks, disclosure control, resources and agreements of costs. Enquiries can be made to: Health.Data@ons.gov.uk.