Dying Homeless

The deaths of hundreds of vulnerable homeless people in England and Wales are going unexamined, an investigation has found.

Research conducted by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ) has revealed that safeguarding adults reviews (SARs) – which charities say are crucial to determining whether the deaths could have been prevented – have almost never been set up after homeless people’s deaths.

Nearly 300 homeless people have died since 2013, revealed data previously compiled by the BIJ as part of its Dying Homeless project, according to The Guardian. Of those deaths, 102 have occurred since October last year, an average of three people a week. Despite that, only eight SARs into homeless deaths have been launched since 2010, the research showed.

They also found that not a single official review has been launched into any of 83 recent deaths. In those cases, just one informal review had been launched. Experts have warned that, with no formal count of deaths and with so few reviews, services cannot determine why so many homeless people are dying and take action to prevent future deaths.

The deaths this year include a 41-year-old man in Bristol who was said to be suffering “prolonged starvation”, an 81 year-old man with no known family members, and a 69-year-old man found in an abandoned shed, whose body was so badly decomposed that the coroner could find no cause of death.

Homelessness charities say the best practice is for every homeless death to be followed by a SAR. A review of this nature brings together agencies and individuals that worked with a vulnerable adult – including doctors and outreach workers – to determine what could have been done differently to prevent a harm or death. While there is no central database for SARs, the BIJ investigation found 52 reviews published online since 2010.

Rick Henderson, chief executive of Homeless Link, called the findings “concerning”. He added: “[Reviews] will help public and voluntary agencies to identify how they might have intervened earlier or worked differently to avoid an individual falling through the gaps. The learning and recommendations from these reviews are invaluable.”

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: “Every death of someone sleeping rough on our streets or without a home is one too many. We are taking bold action and are determined to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and eliminate it by 2027. Just this month we announced more than £25m for new Housing First pilots to get people into stable and affordable accommodation, and in total we are investing more than £1.2bn to tackle all forms of homelessness.”

You can find out more about BIJ’s Dying Homeless project here.