Official data has shown the UK was worse at supressing the Covid-19 pandemic than similar Western Europe countries, prompting calls for the government to focus efforts on disease prevention to reduce pressure on the NHS.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that between January 2020 and the week ending 1 July 2022, the UK’s relative cumulative excess mortality was 3.1% above the average of 2015 to 2019.
This was more than a third less than the cumulative excess mortality from January 2020 to the week ending 18 June 2021 which was 5.8%.
The King’s Fund noted that while all European countries experienced “devastating” death tolls over the pandemic, excess mortality in the UK during the pandemic exceeded that of most comparable Western European countries.
Veena Raleigh, senior fellow at the think tank said: “The all-cause mortality rate during January 2020 to July 2022 compared with the baseline of 2015-19 was 3.1% higher in the UK compared with, for example, an excess of 1.8 and 1.3% in Spain and France respectively.
“The Nordic countries actually experienced 2% to 4% lower mortality rates than the 2015-19 baseline. The UK also had the highest excess mortality rate compared with the baseline among people under 65 in Western European countries such as France, Belgium and Sweden. Eastern European countries had the highest death tolls, with excess mortality rates of up to 18%.
“There has been much speculation about the causes of continuing excess deaths in England in 2022, including the possibility that unprecedented pressures on the NHS are resulting in potentially preventable deaths.”
ONS data showed when compared with countries across the continent, the UK had the 16th highest relative cumulative excess mortality of the 33 countries analysed, and 15th highest of 28 countries when constituent countries are removed.
Most European countries analysed (25 of 33) experienced above average relative cumulative excess mortality for the whole period, with eight countries showing relative cumulative mortality below average.
Bulgaria reported the highest relative cumulative excess mortality at 18.2% above average, followed by Poland (13.3% above average) and Romania (12.2% above average) while Norway had the lowest with 4.1% below average, followed by Sweden (4.0% below average) and Iceland (3.9% below average).
Focus on preventable disease
Raleigh added that while the government needed to urgently address shortfalls in NHS capacity, a much stronger focus was needed on disease prevention to improve population health to reduce the demand for services and facilitate longer-term sustainability of the health and care system.
“For example, we’re seeing excess deaths in 2022 from cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) such as heart attacks and strokes: prevention, earlier diagnosis and management of CVD can save many lives, improve outcomes, reduce health inequalities and lower the demand for health and care services,” Raleigh continued.
“The UK’s pre-pandemic life expectancy already compared poorly with comparator countries like France, Italy and Spain, especially for females.
“This ONS analysis suggests the UK is likely to fall even further down life expectancy rankings. The UK’s relatively high pandemic mortality, coming on the heels of a pre-pandemic decade of stalling life expectancy, highlights the enormous challenges the government faces in turning this ship around.
“However, action to reduce the growing burden of preventable morbidity and mortality, and widening health inequalities, is long overdue and must now be a priority if ministers want to reduce excess mortality and improve life expectancy.”
