Deaths recorded of or with Covid-19 (FOI)

Request

A

How many of the 67 people, to date, who have died of or with Covid-19 had underlying health conditions?

B

How many were receiving palliative care?

C

How many of the 67 people who died of or with Covid-19 had no other underlying health conditions?

D

How many, of those who died of or with Covid-19 were deemed medically fit before dying of or with Covid-19?

Response

A and C 

The mortality statistics for Jersey, are derived from information collected from the death certificate at death registration. 

All of the conditions mentioned on the death certificate are coded using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). From all of these causes an underlying cause of death is selected using ICD-10 coding rules. 

The underlying cause of death is defined by the WHO as:

a) the disease or injury that initiated the train of events directly leading to death, or

b) the circumstances of the accident or violence that produced the fatal injury

We use the term "due to Covid-19" when referring only to deaths where that illness was recorded as the underlying cause of death. 

Unfortunately, it is not possible to provide a full breakdown of the number of people who died due to Covid-19 during the period March 2020 to February 2021 until sufficient time has passed after the end of the year to allow the cause of death data to be finalised and coded. 

The information is therefore not currently held.

A breakdown of mortality data for 2020 is expected to be available in our annual death’s publication, which is provisionally scheduled to be released in July 2021.

The Government of Jersey has previously provided a list of 'Covid-19 deaths as recorded on the Medical deaths certificates' for Freedom of Information request (FOI). 

Covid-19 death statistics (FOI)

The Government of Jersey also responded to an FOI on Covid-19 deaths with no other contributory causes (FOI)

Covid-19 deaths with no other contributory causes (FOI)

B

To produce the information in relation to the Palliative Care data, the data would require examination and extraction from various sources. To fully answer this question, each record would need to be accessed in order to determine the diagnoses. The estimated time / cost of supplying the information now would exceed the specified amount, as determined in the manner prescribed by Regulations. Article 16(1) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law has therefore been applied. 

D

In relation to the medically fit data, the data would require examination and extraction from various sources. In order to fully answer this question, each record would need to be accessed in order to determine the patient’s health status. The estimated time / cost of supplying the information now would exceed the specified amount, as determined in the manner prescribed by Regulations. Article 16(1) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law has therefore been applied. 

Articles applied

Article 3 Meaning of “information held by a public authority” 

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if – 

(a) it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or 

(b) it is held by another person on behalf of the authority. 

Article 4 - Meaning of “information to be supplied by a public authority” 

(1) For the purposes of this Law, the information held by a public authority at the time when a request for the information is received is the information that is to be taken to have been requested. 

(2) However, account may be taken of any amendment or deletion made to the information between the time when the request for the information was received and the time when it is supplied if the amendment or deletion would have been made regardless of the request for the information. 

Article 16 - A scheduled public authority may refuse to supply information if cost excessive 

(1) A scheduled public authority that has been requested to supply information may refuse to supply the information if it estimates that the cost of doing so would exceed any fee of an amount determined in the manner prescribed by Regulations. 

Regulation 2 (1) of the Freedom of Information (Costs) (Jersey) Regulations 2014 allows an authority to refuse a request for information where the estimated cost of dealing with the request would exceed the specified amount of the cost limit of £500. This is the estimated cost of one person spending 12.5 working hours in determining whether the department holds the information, locating, retrieving and extracting the information. 

Article 23 - Information accessible to applicant by other means 

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it is reasonably available to the applicant, otherwise than under this Law, whether or not free of charge. 

(2) A scheduled public authority that refuses an application for information on this ground must make reasonable efforts to inform the applicant where the applicant may obtain the information.