Hospitals have been accused of “unnecessary secrecy” for refusing to disclose how many of their patients died after catching Covid on their wards. The Patients Association, doctors’ leaders and the campaign group Transparency International have criticised the 42 NHS acute trusts in England that did not comply fully with freedom of information request for hospital-acquired Covid infections and deaths. The Guardian revealed on Monday that up to 8,700 patients lost their lives after probably or definitely becoming infected during the pandemic while in hospital for surgery or other treatment. That was based on responses from 81 of the 126 trusts from which it sought figures. The British Medical Association, the main doctors’ trade union, said the 42 trusts that did not reveal how many such deaths had occurred in their hospitals were denying the bereaved crucial information. “No one should come into hospital with one condition, only to be made incredibly ill with, or even die from, a dangerous infectious disease,” Dr Rob Harwood, chair of the BMA’s hospital consultants committee, said. “Families, including those of our own colleagues who died fighting this virus on the frontline, deserve answers. We will only get that if there is full transparency. “This shouldn’t be about blaming individual trusts, but preventing a catastrophe on the scale we saw over the last year ever being allowed to happen again. It’s vital if we’re to learn from the tragic events that unfolded over the last year that all facts and evidence are laid out transparently.” Twenty-six trusts did not provide any figures at all to the freedom of information request, despite their legal obligation to do so. Another 16 trusts replied and gave some figures but did not say how many patients died after contracting Covid in hospital. One other trust provided an array of figures but refused to explain what they meant. Two other trusts answered, but only after publication of the story. Hospitals are displaying “unwarranted secrecy”, the Patients Association said. “We expect openness and transparency from the NHS, particularly about such important matters as patient deaths arising from hospital-acquired infections, said Rachel Power, its chief executive. “The eventual public inquiry will no doubt consider this issue in depth, so hospitals should not attempt to hide behind unwarranted secrecy, even in the short term.” Some of the non-complying trusts insisted that NHS England publishes data on hospital-acquired Covid deaths and directed the Guardian to an area of NHS England’s website. However, it only publishes figures for the number of patients infected while in hospitals, not the deaths that follow. Others claimed they did not have figures for what doctors call nosocomial deaths, meaning those from a disease originating in a hospital, even though all do and 81 trusts honoured their obligations by providing them. A handful said they were too busy dealing with the pandemic and vaccination programme to process freedom of information inquiries, despite the fact staff who handle such requests are not involved in either effort. Transparency International UK, which campaigns for openness and to “hold the powerful to account”, claimed the 42 trusts had displayed “an overly casual approach to the law”. A spokesperson said: “The right to access information held by public institutions is key to good governance and established clearly in statute, yet increasingly obstructed in practice. “Understandably the pandemic has affected the ability of some to respond to outside inquiries, yet the manner in which many requests are dealt with points to an overly casual approach to the law and unnecessary secrecy. “Whether it’s about Covid contracts or the contraction of Covid in hospitals, learning from our recent experience requires public bodies to recognise its right to know, not their right to conceal.” Labour MP Karin Smyth, an ex-NHS manager and member of the Commons public administration and constitutional affairs committee, said: “I do think this secrecy is a problem. People have a right to know what is happening in their local hospitals, which are public bodies. “These were extraordinary circumstances. But the refusal to be open and explain outcomes, as well as demonstrate learning from what happened, is concerning, not least regarding the missed chances to improve practices around infection control and rapid curtailment of non-emergency work. It is also crucial to have a full picture to inform our understanding of preparedness for this pandemic and whatever comes next.” A few trusts defended not responding by claiming it would take too long and cost too much to supply the figures. The Guardian has raised trusts’ widespread non-compliance with the information commissioner, who oversees public bodies’ adherence to the Freedom of Information Act. The 26 trusts that gave no figures at all Ashford and St Peter’s hospitals NHS foundation trust Barnsley hospital NHS foundation trust Bedford hospital NHS trust Chelsea and Westminster hospital NHS foundation trust Doncaster and Bassetlaw teaching hospitals NHS foundation trust Dorset county hospital NHS foundation trust East and north Hertfordshire NHS trust East Cheshire NHS trust East Suffolk and North Essex NHS foundation Trust Epsom and St Helier university hospitals NHS trust Gloucestershire hospitals NHS foundation trust Kingston hospital NHS foundation trust Leeds teaching hospitals NHS trust London north-west university healthcare NHS trust Luton and Dunstable university hospital NHS foundation trust Mid and south Essex NHS foundation trust Mid Cheshire hospitals NHS foundation trust Mid Yorkshire hospitals NHS trust The Newcastle upon Tyne hospitals NHS foundation trust Norfolk and Norwich university hospitals NHS foundation trust Royal Devon and Exeter NHS foundation trust Sandwell and west Birmingham hospitals NHS trust Southport and Ormskirk hospital NHS trust South Tees hospitals NHS foundation trust South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS foundation trust United Lincolnshire hospitals NHS trust The 16 trusts that gave some figures but not deaths Barking, Havering and Redbridge university hospitals NHS trust Buckinghamshire healthcare NHS trust Cambridge university hospitals NHS foundation trust Dartford and Gravesham NHS trust East Sussex healthcare NHS trust Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS foundation trust Isle Of Wight NHS trust Manchester university NHS foundation trust Milton Keynes university hospital NHS foundation trust North Cumbria university hospitals NHS trust North Middlesex university hospital NHS trust Royal Berkshire NHS foundation trust St George’s university hospitals NHS foundation trust University hospitals Bristol NHS foundation trust West Suffolk NHS foundation trust Wye Valley NHS trust