Preventable Deaths Tracker (delivering learning from deaths)
image credit: Terence Bunch, Photographer
source: Preventable Deaths Tracker | published: June October 2026
Thousands of lessons emerge from inquests and investigations every year, but they’re buried, often forgotten, dismissed, or simply not implemented.
Families want lessons to be learnt, but the ‘system’ relies on those grieving to campaign for change, often spending decades fighting for justice and legislative change.
As a nation, we spend significant public funds and place enormous pressure on public services to investigate deaths, yet we fail to capitalise on that investment.
Other countries, like Australia and Canada, have established systems to integrate lessons from deaths into public health, policy, and practice; the UK should do the same.
The team
This project was founded by Dr Georgia Richards in 2020 with support from a team of academics, clinicians and coroners from the University of Oxford, the University of Birmingham, and London.
The team has been undertaken research on coroners’ Prevention of Future Deaths reports (PFDs) and acted as expert witnesses in coronial courts and other legal cases related to PFDs for decades.
Reforms will ensure:
- Bereaved people know their loved one’s death will inform the prevention of further harm.
- The Coroner Service, Medical Examiner System and Death Review panels will contribute to measurable safety improvements.
- Policymakers, practitioners and the public will have access to real-time, transparent insights and evidence to inform decision-making.
- Preventable deaths won’t be repeated, lives will be saved – fewer preventable deaths!
