The number of deaths in care homes has fallen back to pre-pandemic levels, new figures have revealed.
There were 127,171 deaths in care homes in England last year, down 18.2% on the 2020 peak of 155,376 deaths, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.
These new figures are lower than in any year from 2016 to 2019.
Commenting on the new numbers, Nadra Ahmed, executive chairman of National Care Association, said: ‘It is important to note that the figures are where we would expect them to be, which demonstrates the impact of the Covid over the past 26 months.
‘The lack of planning for social care will have impacted on the ability of care services to keep our services users safe at the height of the pandemic. We hope that lessons have been learnt and that government will ensure that the mistakes made will never be repeated.’
