The Isle of Wight NHS Trust is one of 42 Trusts who failed to meet their legal obligation to answer a Freedom of Information Act request about Covid deaths.
The news was revealed by The Guardian newspaper on Tuesday (25th May).
They say the Isle of Wight NHS Trust did provide some figures in response to their questions, but chose not to say how many patients died after contracting Covid in hospital.
This year there have been 99 Covid deaths in hospital on the Isle of Wight, whereas in 2020 there were 57. See our weekly update for the latest breakdown of Covid figures.
BMA: Need for transparency
The British Medical Association said the Trusts were denying the bereaved crucial information by not revealing how many such deaths had occurred in their hospitals.
The chair of the BMA’s hospital consultants committee, Dr Rob Harwood, spoke in the article of the need for full transparency, adding that the families of the bereaved, which includes those working on the frontline to fight the virus, deserve to receive answers.
Why not figures?
News OnTheWight has asked the Isle of Wight NHS Trust why they chose not to answer the question and will update once we hear back.
Read the article in full on the Guardian Website.
Image: © Used with the kind permission of Auntie P
