Preventable Deaths Tracker (learning to prevent future deaths)

4WardEverUK • 8 July 2023

source: Preventable Deaths Tracker

first published: June 2023

Image Credit: Jack Moreh at www.FreeRangeStock.com


One in five deaths are preventable every year. But, less than 1% have a coroners’ Prevention of Future Deaths report (PFD) written.


PFDs are written by coroners and sent to individuals or organisations that have the power to act. Those that receive PFDs must respond to the coroner within 56 days outlining actions taken, proposed or provide an explanation for inaction.


However, there is no mechanism to ensure that responses are received, actions are taken, and lessons are learnt to prevent future deaths.


The Preventable Deaths Tracker is trying to change this.

See the database here >

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.

Preventable Deaths Tracker's work

"Our work spans three areas, including 1) research, 2) education, and 3) communication.


"We design studies to answer important questions for public health and safety. We write scientific reports and academic publications, with more than 20 published to date.


"We conduct training for users of the Preventable Deaths Database, the writing of PFDs, and advise on digital processes to improve the PFD system."


Read full article here >

share this article on social media

Children carry banner at demo
by 4WardEverUK 25 January 2026
After years of waiting for change, friends and family of people who ‘died in police custody’ are coming together to demand justice from the police writes James Whitfield.
INQUEST - Unlocking the Truth, Oral Histories Project
by 4WardEverUK 25 January 2026
The INQUEST Oral Histories Archive documents state violence, death and resistance in the UK since 1981 and explores over 40 years of fighting for justice through sound, image and print.
Surveillance camera
by 4WardEverUK 25 January 2026
Whatever the outcome of the trial between various claimants and the group behind the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, it sheds light on a a circle of dodgy journalists and corrupt police officers.
ring binder
by 4WardEverUK 23 January 2026
Each year, The Independent Office for Police Conduct publishes statistics about the complaints that forces have logged. Their reports include information about the number and type of complaints.
armed police officer
by 4WardEverUK 17 January 2026
Robert Alan Glover recounts the grisly police shooting of Samuel DuBose that rocked Ohio 10 years before the January 2026 killing of Renée Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis.
Baha Mousa
by 4WardEverUK 14 January 2026
Newly disclosed government files show that former UK prime minister Tony Blair intervened to prevent civilian or international prosecution of British soldiers involved in the death of Baha Mousa.
More Articles