As the master demographics source for the NHS, the Personal Demographics Service (PDS) will record when a patient has died. It will also record who has reported the death:

• Formal deaths – where a registrar has issued a formal death certificate.
• Informal deaths – where the NHS has recorded a patient has died, for example where an Medical Certificate of the Cause of Death (MCCD) has been issued.
• Local deaths - in cases where the patient has died but an MCCD has not yet been issued, the death will be recorded locally but the PDS will not be notified.

Some systems are only able to report on the date of death and so cannot distinguish between formal, informal and local death status.

Currently the reporting of deaths within primary care is well established as a GP must be notified that their patient has died. Within other areas of the NHS death is rarely communicated outside the organisation, except to the registrar.

This has led to out of date records, for example a patient remaining registered with a GP. The use of the PDS will reduce these cases.