Thank you for contacting me about the excess deaths reported by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), and the Westminster Hall Debate on the matter on 16th January 2024. I understand your concerns, and I am assured that the Government is taking steps to reduce excess deaths (the number of deaths above the five-year average), including those which involve Covid-19.
Vaccines, antivirals and other treatments play a crucial role in protecting patients who become infected with Covid-19. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) followed rigorous procedures to ensure the vaccines met the necessary high standards in safety and efficacy. The Government is preparing for variants of Covid-19 and influenza through the Covid-19 booster and flu vaccination programmes, minimising hospital admissions from both viruses.
The disruption caused by Covid-19 has had a significant impact on those people who were living with cancer and other major conditions. The Government is taking steps to reduce excess deaths due to these conditions, including through a delivery plan setting out how the NHS will expand elective services over the next three years. The plan commits the NHS to deliver nine million additional treatments and diagnostic procedures over the next three years and around 30 per cent more elective activity than it was doing before the pandemic by 2024/25.
Missed appointments and health checks due to the pandemic have contributed to excess deaths. The Prime Minister has made it clear that reducing waiting lists for NHS treatment is one of his key priorities over the coming months.
In February 2022, the Government published a plan for recovering elective care, with a clear commitment to eliminate long waits for treatment. By 2025, no one should be waiting more than a year for elective care in the NHS, and waiting times for referral to treatment for cancer care should return to pre-pandemic levels. The NHS has met its target that no one should be waiting longer than two years for treatment, and significant progress was made in reducing the number of patients waiting 78 weeks or more by April 2023.
Furthermore, the Government intends to publish a Major Conditions Strategy to tackle conditions that contribute most to morbidity and mortality across the population in England including: cancers; cardiovascular disease, including stroke and diabetes; chronic respiratory diseases; dementia; mental ill health; and musculoskeletal conditions.
15/01/2024