Recent high death rates in older people are not exceptional, says Public Health England

Public Health England has said that excess mortality in elderly people recorded in 2012-13 did not need any new explanation and was largely due to influenza and cold weather.

In a letter and new report sent to leading public health practitioners,1 John Newton, Public Health England’s chief knowledge officer, said that an earlier analysis had “potential methodological weaknesses” and did not add anything to work already being carried out elsewhere in the …