Coronavirus left off death certificates of people dying at home and in care homes

Doctors are under reporting coronavirus on the death certificates of people they suspect have died of the virus in care homes and in private homes, a whistleblower claims.

Some doctors are opting to write ‘frailty of old age’, dementia or other health conditions on death certificates of people they believe have died of coronavirus, according to the GP, who wished to remain anonymous.

GPs are not attributing the virus to suspected COVID-19 deaths happening outside hospital, the doctor told Channel 4 News.

“I know GPs writing bronchopneumonia or frailty of old age on death certificates when they strongly suspect COVID to avoid running into problems”.

The GP described stressed doctors drowning in paperwork and a lack of testing in care homes and for people living at home exacerbating the issue, leaving doctors anxious about what to do after a death.

The administrative delays of getting funeral directors to collect a coronavirus-infected body are among the reasons why, he claims, doctors have been under reporting coronavirus fatalities. “I can imagine a lot of GPs will just put another cause of death to smooth up the situation, so you don’t have endless calls back with coroners and funeral homes”.

Only 1% of COVID-19 deaths recorded as 'suspected' coronavirus

The claims call into question the accuracy of the UK’s COVID-19 death rate, if all coronavirus deaths are deliberately not being recorded.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published (on 16 April) the number of people dying of coronavirus from 1-31 March. In March, there were 3,912 deaths in England and Wales involving coronavirus. (The total number of deaths that month was 47,358).

Of the 3,372 deaths recorded as having an underlying cause of COVID-19 on death certificates, only one per cent (38) were classified as 'suspected' COVID-19.

Dementia recorded for most deaths

Dementia and Alzheimer disease was the underlying cause of death recorded with the most deaths (6,401 deaths) - that's 14 per cent of all deaths that month.

This was followed by Ischaemic heart diseases with 4,042 deaths (nine per cent) and thirdly COVID-19, with 3,372 deaths (seven per cent).

The ONS also revealed at least one in seven coronavirus deaths in March, were of people living with dementia.

Sally Copley, director of policy, campaigns and partnerships at Alzheimer’s Society said: "With ongoing uncertainty about the number of coronavirus deaths in care homes, we suspect that the true death toll of people with dementia dying from COVID-19 is much greater than the figures currently available to the ONS.

"We need to see faster and more efficient methods of recording deaths in these settings to provide more accurate, daily mortality figures."

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