- Conference
- 2022 National Retired Members Conference
- Date
- 17 May 2022
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
Conference notes that data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing shows that many of the over-50 population were unable to access health care services during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in England. A sixth of older people reported having hospital treatment cancelled, with an additional one in ten unable to visit or speak to their GP. Access to community health and social care was also severely disrupted.
The data highlights the following disruption of healthcare for older people during the pandemic.
1)Disruptions to hospital care were widespread during the early stages of the pandemic. A sixth of the over-50 population in England – that is 3.6 million individuals – had hospital treatment or an operation cancelled;
2)Hospital cancellations were most common for heavy users of hospital services. Older people, those living in more deprived areas and those with worse self-reported health were most likely to experience a disruption to their hospital care;
3)Disruptions to the use of GP and community health and social care services were also widespread. Almost a quarter of those reporting that they needed to speak to a GP did not, while almost three-quarters of those reporting that they needed community health and social care services did not use these;
4)Individuals previously reporting a worse health status were more than twice as likely not to see or talk to a GP when they sought one than those previously reporting an excellent general health status. 12.8% of those who reported ‘poor’ or ‘fair’ health failed to see a GP when attempting to do so, compared with just 5.8% among those with ‘excellent’ health;
5)Care-seeking behaviour changed radically in the early stages of the pandemic, with a significant proportion of patients with care needs not actively seeking help. 14% of those requiring GP care, and more than a third of those reporting that they needed community care services, did not contact these services.
Conference further notes that with routine services only slowly
returning to their pre-pandemic capacity, and a large backlog of
care to be worked through, long-standing health inequalities are
likely to be exacerbated for years to come.
The impact of the backlog on older people was highlighted by
Tory MP Edward Leigh when he said “People of a certain age,
of which unfortunately I am one, are terrified because they think
that if something goes wrong, they may have to wait in pain for
two years”.
Conference believes that the data above underlines the
importance of boosting capacity to address care backlogs as
soon as possible.
Conference therefore calls on the National Retired Members’
Committee to work with the National Executive Council and
other appropriate bodies to continue to bring pressure to bear
on the Government to reduce the backlog and provide the necessary investment.