Public Health Wales Admits Data Gaps on Covid Deaths of Key Workers and Ethnic Minorities

Public Health Wales (PHW) has acknowledged a deficiency in data concerning the number of essential health and social care personnel who succumbed during the initial phase of the Covid pandemic. Professor Fu-Meng Khaw of PHW informed the UK Covid Inquiry that over a thousand Covid death entries lacked details regarding the deceased’s status as a key worker. Professor Khaw additionally highlighted a “critical gap” in the existing data regarding Covid-19’s impact on ethnic minority groups. Public Health Wales utilized software that determined and categorized ethnicity through names, a method the inquiry was informed “had limitations.” In April 2020, PHW implemented a rapid surveillance reporting mechanism designed to collect data on Covid deaths more promptly than the compilation of official death registrations. This system allowed those overseeing the pandemic to receive daily updates and adapt to evolving circumstances. An electronic reporting form was established for health boards to complete following each Covid death, requesting details such as whether the individual was a key worker. However, Professor Khaw indicated that a “significant element of missing data” pertained to essential NHS and social care personnel who had died from Covid. He informed the inquiry, “Throughout the pandemic it was clear there were elements of the form which were not as well complete as they might be. There was missing information.” He further elaborated, “For example, in the 6,514 deaths registered throughout the life of this form, there were over a thousand elements of missing data in the question of key worker status.” Professor Khaw stated that approximately 17% of the data was absent. Based on the total responses received, 36 healthcare worker deaths were documented, constituting about 0.6% of all fatalities. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has subsequently estimated that 123 deaths involving Covid among NHS and social care workers occurred in Wales. Professor Khaw was also interrogated regarding the scarcity of data concerning ethnic minorities, a demographic group that experienced a disproportionate impact from Covid. As ethnicity data was not routinely collected, PHW instead utilized a software tool that identified and categorized ethnicity by analyzing names. The inquiry was informed that this software tended to underestimate the black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) population. Professor Khaw remarked, “Clearly at the time, there wasn’t much else.” Professor Khaw conceded that no alternative tools were employed to comprehend ethnic minority disparities, resulting in a “critical gap” in the available data. He stated, “Any investigation on disparities for ethnic minority groups relies on good quality data and we didn’t have access to data around ethnicity.” He further explained that this constrained the capacity “to undertake more robust investigations around ethnic disparity.”