Logic dictates that in any period of disruption, those with the least will be perhaps the most heavily affected. New research from Imperial College London highlights that the coronavirus pandemic is no exception.
The study suggests that disadvantaged and marginalized people face even worse health inequalities than they ordinarily would as a result of the choices hospitals are making in response to the pandemic. A restriction in non-urgent services to free up resources for covid-19 is having a big impact in areas such as sexual health, gynaecology and paediatrics.
What’s more, the decline in attendance to emergency departments, which have seen a fall of 44% during March, are disproportionately affecting vulnerable people, who often use them for routine care as they struggle to access general practice and community services.
A particular challenge is in creating accurate and reliable baseline data on particular diseases, as health officials are often blind to the prevalence and progression of diseases among ethnic groups.
“It is imperative that we rigorously capture baseline data so that we understand the impact of key risk factors on disease prognosis, including Covid-19,” the authors say.
They state that among ethnic groups in Britain, as little as 60% of people have their ethnicity captured correctly in their medical records, which can result in incorrect assumptions made on flawed data.
The authors also highlight potential inequalities in terms of contracted workers, especially those working in areas such as cleaning, security, catering and portering, who are disproportionately staffed by migrants.
“The NHS has taken swift action to expand capacity and reorganise services to help ensure that health services can help with an influx of seriously ill Covid-19 patients,” the authors conclude. Difficult choices have been made, and some unintended consequences are inevitable. Policymakers, managers and clinicians should take pause during this phase to protect the most vulnerable groups in our society from negative unintended consequences and avoid worsening health inequalities.”
