Almost 10,000 extra people have died from non-Covid illnesses in England and Wales than would be expected since summer, according to official figures.
Experts have demanded an urgent investigation into whether the deaths were avoidable and if the current NHS crisis and emergency care delays are to blame.
There have been around 21,000 more deaths from all causes than average since July, according to Office for National Statistics data up to November 5.
But about 11,500 of these involved Covid, leaving a little more than 9,000 due to other causes such as dementia, heart and lung disease and cancer.
Oxford University's Professor Carl Heneghan, an eminent expert in evidence-based medicine, said he suspected many of the excess deaths were 'potentially reversible'.
He told The Telegraph: 'This goes beyond just looking at the raw numbers and death certificates. We need to go back and find if these deaths have any preventable causes. This could be the fallout from the lack of preventable care during the pandemic.'
Since January, there have been 46,000 more deaths than the five-year average, but nearly 77,000 were Covid-related.
The above graph shows the number of fatalities from all causes compared to the five-year average. It reveals that deaths have been above expected levels since July even as vaccines have kept Covid fatalities at a fraction of their previous levels
The above graph shows the number of deaths that are involving Covid (blue) and are not involving the virus (green). It reveals that deaths have been above average since July
The above line graph shows all fatalities recorded in England and Wales (blue line) compared to the five-year average (blue dotted line). It reveals that fatalities have been above expected levels since the summer began
The NHS waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England has reached 5.83million, official data reveals marking the eleventh month in a row that the figure has hit a record high. Some 1.6million more Britons were waiting for elective surgery — such as hip and keen operations — at the end of September compared to the start of the pandemic
Professor Heneghan said: 'I'm calling for an urgent investigation. If you look at where the excess is happening, it's in conditions like ischemic heart disease, and cirrhosis of the liver and diabetes, all which are potentially reversible.'
He added: 'We urgently need to understand what's going wrong and an investigation of the root causes to determine those actions that can prevent further unnecessary deaths.'
