One in six over-50s had hospital treatment cancelled in pandemic

ONE in six people over the age of 50 had hospital treatment cancelled during the pandemic, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has found.

The IFS research on middle-aged and elderly people found that those in poor health and those in more deprived areas were the most likely to miss out. The study shows more than 3.5 million people aged over 50 had hospital treatment cancelled between February and May, while one in four wanting to speak to a GP did not manage to do so.

Those with worse health before the pandemic struck were twice as likely as those in excellent prior health to be unable to access their GP when needed. The study also found major struggles to get help from social care and community health services.

Isabel Stockton, a research economist at the IFS and one of the study’s authors, said: “As we move into another lockdown, it will be crucial to ensure access to routine care is maintained as much as possible and that a plan is in place to address care backlogs built up in the first few months of the pandemic.” The study, which draws on data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing Covid-19 study, found that 13 per cent of those who reported “poor” or “fair” health failed to see a GP when attempting to do so, compared with 6 per cent among those in “excellent” health. In addition, 14 per cent of those requiring GP care did not even attempt to contact one. An NHS spokesman said: “As this report shows, during the first wave hospitals were forced to pause some routine care to concentrate on t reating s everely ill Covid- 1 9 patients, while also ensuring 126,000 people started treatment for cancer between March and August.

“Since then hospitals have been maximising their routine care, with a threefold increase since then. Given the government advice was for people to stay at home during the first wave of the pandemic, the NHS also brought extra services to people’s homes – making up to 10,000 chemotherapy doorstop deliveries between March and May but as this report rightly points out, significant numbers of people were put off seeking help, which is why the NHS is urging the public to come forward for care.”