By Ben Kerrigan-
Tens of thousands of excess deaths recorded in the UK last year, 32,441 people in England and Wales between May to December 2022 was more to do with an inadequate Nhs system and poor lifestyles, as opposed to Covid-19, according to researchers.
Statistics from the Organisation for National Statistics reveal a persistent level of excess deaths, separable from the pandemic.
This figure does not include deaths with COVID listed on the death certificate. The excess deaths were calculated as those above a five-year average from 2016-19 and 2021, excluding 2020 when the number of deaths spiked due to COVID fatalities.
Overall, there have been over 220,000 lives lost to COVID in Britain as a result of the government’s deliberate policy of mass infection. The toll was disproportionately heavy among older people, made worse by such murderous policies as the government’s emptying hospital geriatric wards into care homes without proper testing or isolation procedures.
Although an overwhelming scientific consensus and global data clearly indicated that COVID-19 was a significant contributor to excess deaths worldwide, multiple, other factors do influence mortality rates.
Excess deaths refer to the number of deaths that occur above and beyond what would typically be expected during a specific period. Throughout the pandemic, numerous studies have demonstrated that COVID-19 has been a significant contributor to excess deaths worldwide. The virus has caused direct deaths among those infected and has also indirectly contributed to increased mortality rates through disruptions in healthcare systems, delayed medical treatments, and exacerbation of pre-existing health conditions.
The contagious nature of the virus has resulted in significant community spread, leading to increased mortality rates among vulnerable populations.
The Age-Related Standardised Mortality Rate (ARSMR) for December 22 was 5.8 percent above the five-year average- taking into account deaths of the elderly.
National mortality and excess death statistics are the product of a large number of complex factors affecting a huge and varied population. The evidence suggests, however, that this is not a temporary phenomenon, but the result of a general worsening of the health of the population, such that the UK now has the largest number of people out of work due to ill health on record—more than 2.5 million, or one in 14 working-age adults.
The crisis of the National Health Service (NHS) has suffered deep funding cuts and privatisation with record staff shortages. COVID-19 and the government’s policy of mass infection intensified staffing problems, leading to the deaths of many health workers and pushing thousands to leave the health profession due to either burnout or ill-health associated with COVID.
Prior to the pandemic, there were 4.43 million patients on the NHS waiting list. The figure for March 2023 is 7.33 million. This means that over 11 percent of the entire UK population of 66 million is waiting for treatment. Of these, 3.3 million have waited over 18 weeks and 360,000 for over a year.
The number of people seen by a specialist consultant within two weeks of an urgent referral by a General Practitioner (GP) was 83.9 percent for March 2023—the government target of 93 percent has not been met since May 2020.
Delays put lives in danger and further pressure on the NHS. Latest statistics from January 2023 reveal that, as GP referrals increased 12 percent versus January 2022. By June last year, the number of patients waiting more than the maximum 18 weeks for cardiac treatment had trebled since February 2020 to nearly 100,000. According to Diabetes UK, there has been a 13 percent increase in diabetes associated deaths compared to pre-pandemic figures.
In December-January last winter, potentially thousands of excess deaths were attributed to worst-ever wait times for ambulances and in Accident and Emergency departments.
Right-wing commentators are doing their best to attribute this crisis to the lockdowns implemented in the first two years of the pandemic. This is totally bogus. The main blow dealt to the NHS was by the repeated rampant spread of COVID-19 promoted by the “let it rip” policy, overflowing hospitals with desperately ill people.
The World Health Organisation has already declared that COVID is no longer a public health emergency of international concern. despite the fact Covid is not much less present now than it was during the pandemic in the Uk in 2021.
The Conservative government lifted its remaining COVID restrictions in England in February 2022 under a “living with COVID” plan, but this came at a time when the partyagte was being exposed, revealing an overwhelming number of politicians breaching covid rules.
This breach led many in the public to conclude the pandemic was being overhyped, despite the undeniable reality of the deadly virus. Some even adopted the ignorant view of doubting the virus existed in any real sense
According to The Lancet, “Almost 90 percent of COVID-19 survivors have developed sequelae, including not only general symptoms such as fatigue but also severe neurological, cardiac, renal or respiratory manifestations.”
Social Inequality And Poverty
Worsening social inequality and poverty are also major contributors to poor health in the population, including obesity and mental health problems. Coleman noted that “some people have been forecasting separately from Covid that death rates would continue to get worse because the country is so unhealthy.”
Sridhar listed as other probable causes of the UK’s excess deaths “an extremely hot summer,” linked to climate change, and “the cost of living crisis and concerns about fuel poverty.” Both of which point to capitalism’s complete failure to secure a healthy environment for the population.
The health and lives of this and future generations cannot be left in the hands of a profit-crazed ruling class or their lackeys in the trade union bureaucracy whose betrayal of workers’ struggles—above all in the health service—have allowed such a staggering reversal in the living standards of the working class.