Half of people in UK have worse health due to cost-of-living crisis, says poll

MORE than half of people in the UK say they have worse health due to the rising cost of living, with medics reporting some patients cannot afford to look after themselves.

A Yougov poll of 2,001 people commissioned by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) found 55% felt their health had got worse owing to issues such as high heating costs and soaring food bills. One in four of these people have been told this is the case by a doctor or other medical professional, with stress seen as a driving factor of ill-health.

Of all those who reported their health getting worse, 84% said it was due to increased heating costs, 78% cited the rising cost of food and almost half (46%) said transport costs had had an impact.

Members of the Royal College of Physicians have told how people are suffering, with one saying a woman’s ulcers on her fingertips were made worse by her house being cold.

Another patient could not afford to travel to hospital for lung cancer investigation and treatment while medics also reported people’s asthma and other lung conditions were being made worse by exposure to mould in poor quality council housing. The Inequalities in Health Alliance (IHA), a group of more than 200 organisations convened by the RCP, is calling for a crossgovernment strategy to reduce health inequalities.

Professor Sir Michael Marmot, director of the University College London Institute of Health Equity, said: “This survey demonstrates that the cost-of-living crisis is damaging the perceived health and wellbeing of poorer people.

“The surprise is that people in above average income groups are affected, too.”