In December, Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said that any additional deaths that occur during ambulance strikes would be the government’s fault. While there are myriad factors behind ONS registered death statistics, weekly deaths for the weeks ending the 13th of January and 20^th of January were higher than the same time last year. Both weeks that saw ambulance strikes…

• The week ending 13^th January saw 17,381 deaths registered, up 19.5% on the five-year average.
• The week ending 20^th January saw 15,804 deaths registered, up 11% on the five-year average.

The statistics were flagged by Dr Quinton Fivelman of the London Medical Laboratory, who says that “While far from conclusive, this new data might be useful as one tool in helping to assess the effect of this industrial action.”

“It’s perhaps relevant to note that at-home deaths in both England and Wales increased by 31.5% above average (there were 1,082 excess home deaths) during the week ending 13 January and 28.7% above average (970 excess deaths) during the week ending 20 January. This possibly indicates some complications or issues surrounding ambulance availability, although we must be careful not to draw any firm conclusions without further data.”

Coddle yourself in bubble wrap during the next ambulance strike…