The mission of the Preventable Deaths Tracker is to use coronial data to save lives by minimising preventable deaths.
The Preventable Deaths Tracker provides the first and only centralised database of all published coroner reports in England and Wales. Our work involves three main areas:
- we provide useable coronial data and build tools for rapid analytics and statistics;
- we conduct systematic searches and bespoke research studies;
- we deliver education and training.
Why is this important?
One in five deaths are avoidable every year. Yet, there is no system in place to investigate these deaths.
The bereaved want lessons to be learnt following inquests so that others don’t experience the same loss. However, no database existed that enabled the systematic collection, analysis, and reporting of deaths following an inquest. The Preventable Deaths Tracker is changing that.
Our team
We are a small, dedicated team of academics, scientists, epidemiologists, healthcare professionals, and a practising coroner. The foundations for the Preventable Deaths Tracker were created in 2018 while Dr Georgia Richards was undertaking a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil/PhD) at the University of Oxford. In 2020, Dr Richards launched the website to provide access to coroner data.
![](https://preventabledeathstracker.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/team23-1024x167.png)
Funding
The Preventable Deaths Tracker has no core funding. It’s currently self-funded by Dr Georgia Richards.
In 2020-2021, Dr Richards was awarded an Engagement and Dissemination grant (£795) and a Seedcorn grant (£2000) from NIHR SPCR to fund the initial web development. NIHR SPCR also funded two Summer Interns (2022, 2023) to work on the Tracker.
In June 2024, Dr Richards received the King’s Prize Fellowship from King’s College London to develop a research programme using the Preventable Deaths Tracker. Prior to this, all time spent improving and updating the databases and tools was voluntary and self-funded by Dr Richards.
The database is solely the responsibility of Dr Richards and does not represent the views of NIHR SPCR or King’s College London. Furthermore, the funders had no role in the design, management, methodological decisions, or review of the Preventable Deaths Tracker databases or its projects.
Support us
You can support the Preventable Deaths Tracker by:
- downloading the databases,
- becoming a paid subscriber to the newsletter,
- sharing and citing the Preventable Deaths Tracker website.
You can also commission a bespoke analysis, webinar, podcast, or blog for you or your organisation.
With support, the Tracker could:
- Build interactive dashboards, making the Tracker more searchable and user-friendly.
- Compare addressees’ response performance to increase accountability.
- Enable open access to all tools and databases we’ve created.
- Provide training on using the Preventable Deaths Tracker and conduct research using coroner reports.
- Respond faster to queries.
If you or your organisation can provide sustainable funding for the Preventable Deaths Tracker, please do get in contact: georgiarichardscebm@gmail.com