Child deaths are linked to social deprivation in England – NHS report

Study shows 23% of deaths in most deprived areas avoidable if mortality risk was same as least deprived. About 700 child deaths could be avoided each year in England by reducing rates of social deprivation, according to an NHS England-funded report. The research, which analysed the records of 3,347 children who died in England between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020, identified a clear association between the risk of death and level of deprivation, for all categories of death apart from cancer. It concluded that more than a fifth (23%) of all child deaths might be avoided if children living in the most deprived areas had the same mortality risk as those living in the least deprived areas. Read more.