Pressure on NHS and cost of living crisis blamed for Scotland’s deadliest winter in 30 years
Scotland experienced its deadliest winter for more than 30 years in 2022-23, official figures have revealed, with the cost of living crisis and relentless pressure on the NHS being blamed for the rise in deaths.
A total of 24,427 deaths were registered between December last year and March this year, data from the National Records of Scotland (NRS) showed, 11 per cent more than the previous winter and the highest level since 1989-90.
This included a total of 4,137 additional winter deaths, the seasonal increase in mortality that occurs between December and March.
The NRS said the rise in winter deaths may be partly driven by Scotland’s ageing population, with older age groups consistently the most affected by seasonal mortality rates.
The cause of death with the largest seasonal increase was dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, accounting for 640 additional deaths. There were 310 additional deaths as a result of Covid.
However, the Age Scotland charity said the rise was also likely to be explained by a combination of the cost of living crisis, pressures on health and social care services and seasonal spikes in both flu and Covid.
The figures were published shortly before Health Secretary Michael Matheson told MSPs at Holyrood there was “no doubt this winter will be extremely challenging for our health and care system” again.
In a statement on winter planning in the NHS, he announced a £50m fund to boost recruitment to the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) and £12m for Hospital at Home services, allowing people to be treated where they live rather than on a ward.
It is hoped that the money will help the SAS recruit 317 frontline emergency staff and 18 call centre-based clinicians. The Hospital at Home funding could boost the number of extra beds available to the NHS by 380.
A spokesman for Age Scotland said the scale of winter deaths last year was “extremely concerning”. He added: “We’re aware that many older people have faced difficulty accessing the health and social care they need, which may have led to conditions becoming more severe due to delays in diagnosis and treatment.
“Many have also struggled to meet the increasing cost of heating their homes to a safe level, increasing the risk of serious medical emergencies such as heart attacks and strokes.”
Labour said the “devastating” number of deaths last winter was linked to the “twin crises engulfing Scotland”, blaming both problems in the NHS and “soaring bills” for the increase.
The party’s health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: “Last winter our health and social care system was on the brink of collapse while soaring bills forced people to make impossible choices between heating and eating.”
Questioned on the rise in winter deaths following his statement, Mr Matheson said it could be explained by a “variety of reasons” and that the same trend was recorded “not just here in Scotland but across the UK”.
“One of the biggest drivers of an increase in mortality rates over the course of the last decade has been austerity policy, which is quite literally killing people as a result of the impact that it has directly on services.”
