Winter deaths webchat with Dan Jarvis MP

durhamjen

How old are you whitewave? Not old enough to be included in these statistics.

My question for Dan Jarvis is:

How do you know when a woman over 85 dies that it is an excess death?
I thought statistics had always said that there are more deaths in January to March anyway.

Hi durhamjen,

Just to be clear, an "excess winter death" is a technical term and it's defined as occurring as a direct result of the cold, meaning somebody has died who otherwise would not have died.

JessM

Hello Dan. Many older people are living in poorly heated and poorly insulated homes, putting them at risk. www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/357409/Review7_Fuel_poverty_health_inequalities.pdf
The coalition government cut back ECO funding (spinning it as "Green Taxes") despite the evidence that investing in home insulation can help prevent premature deaths in the winter and take pressure over the NHS.
I would hope that when we get a Labour government more money can be invested in this. It is a double win as improving energy efficiency is the most cost effective way of reducing carbon emissions.
Are you involved in developing Labour policy in this area? If not, who is?
While we await an election is there anything else that can be done by individuals?

Hi,

I'm very keen to contribute to a national debate about how we develop policy in this area and tackle the scandal of excess winter deaths. One of the reasons why I think there needs to be greater coordination, nationally and locally, is because this is an issue which cuts across a number of different areas, it involves health, local government, energy and many more.

That's why I think it's important that Government outlines a national strategy to better co-ordinate this activity, but also at a local level, councils have their own plans to make the most of the good work that is taking place locally.

I think individuals, where they have ideas, contributions that they want to make, should feed them into their local councillors and their Member of Parliament. This is a matter that I have raised on a number of occasions with the Prime Minister and I am heartened at the level of interest and I will continue to raise this matter in Parliament.

But also, all of us have a responsibility to keep an eye on those people in our communities, our neighbours, who might be considered to be vulnerable. I know that in my town of Barnsley there is a very close sense of community, which means that people do look out for their neighbours. This is perhaps something that is harder than it used to be, but is worth doing.

Doing this will undoubtedly save lives.

thatbags

Is the number of so-called "excess" deaths falling? For example, is the figure for 2014/15 lower by a significant amount than it was, say, fifty or a hundred years ago? And if so, can this pattern be seen in general with regard to this issue?

If the answer to those questions is yes, then I think we're on the right track.

A third question, if I may, why are you wearing a black tie?

Hi,

Unfortunately, actually the winter in 2014/15 saw a particularly high number of excess winter deaths (43,900).

The number of excess winter deaths varies each year. Over the last five years, we've seen years have 17,000 deaths and others in the 20,000s and others in the 30,000s.

Given the advance of technology and the fact that Britain, despite challenges, is still one of the richest countries in the world, it's unacceptable that we continue to suffer these very significant numbers of fatalities. By their very nature, these deaths are avoidable and more could, and should, be done both nationally and locally to tackle what is a national scandal.

durhamjen

Is it not better to persuade the government rather than local authorities?
The government is cutting the grants to local authorities so there is not enough money in the pot for them to do anything about it.

I think many people will be shocked to know that last year, 43,000 people died as a result of the cold. There are a number of ways in which we can reduce these numbers but I think you are right to draw reference to the fact that the Government nationally is reducing the amount of funding which goes to local authorities which will undermine their ability at a local levelt o tackle this important issue.

This is why it's essential that local government co-ordinates the effort that is taking place, bringing together the local authority, the NHS and clinical commissioning group, as well as the charitable sector.