Lockdown health toll as diagnoses dropped by half
COUNTLEss patients are living with worsening heart disease, diabetes and mental health because their conditions were not diagnosed in lockdown, researchers warn.
A shocking report last night revealed GPs’ diagnoses of major health conditions dropped by up to half in March, April and May.
The report’s authors said serious illnesses went ‘undetected, undiagnosed and untreated’ during the Covid shutdown.
And they warned the NHs to prepare for a surge in patients over the coming months as people’s symptoms become intolerable.
At the height of the first peak patients obeyed the order to ‘stay at home’, the researchers said, and were reluctant to go to their doctor for fear of catching coronavirus.
Many were also left with the ‘misconception’ that the NHs was ‘only available for patients with Covid-19’, the Manchester University researchers wrote. This led to a dramatic drop in diagnoses.
Richard Williams, the lead author of the study published in the Lancet Public Health medical journal, said: ‘This means that, potentially, there are high numbers of people living with undiagnosed type 2 diabetes, mental health conditions and circulatory system failure.’
The team, whose findings were presented at the European society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Conference on Coronavirus Disease, examined the health records of 250,000 people in salford.
They assessed diagnoses between March 1 and May 31, and compared them with records going back a decade to see how many healthy conditions were diagnosed and referred for treatment.
They found diagnoses for mental health conditions dropped by 50 per cent, by 49 per cent for type 2 diabetes, and by 43 per cent for cardiovascular disease. For malignant cancer, the reduction was 16 per cent over the three months, but in the month of May it was down by 44 per cent.
Mr Williams said: ‘We were aware that GP practices have been reporting a drop in the number of patients seeking medical help since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
‘ Thanks to electronic health records, it is possible to investigate whether this is true across a large urban area like salford.
‘ Importantly, our research has revealed which conditions people are not seeking medical attention for.’
Fellow researcher Dr Owain Thomas, a GP in salford, said: ‘The conclusions of this research are a vital part in our understanding of the overall impact of Covid-19.
‘The conditions we have looked at are usually many months or years in the making, so the reduction in new diagnoses does not represent a reduction in the burden of these diseases, more the fact that they have not yet been formally recognised. This will have an impact individually on those patients – the longer a patient goes undiagnosed, the more complications they are likely to suffer.
‘As we move forwards, careful thought will be needed to plan services to find and support those patients who have not yet been diagnosed.’
The researchers warned that admissions are likely to spike as people’s symptoms become ‘ intolerable’. ‘should such a scenario occur, healthcare services will need to manage this excess demand,’ they said. ‘The delay in diagnoses is also likely to have implications for the severity of these conditions when patients present.
‘Prioritisation of people with these conditions ... will be important in primary care otherwise the backlog could plausibly overwhelm primary and secondary healthcare services.’
They also warned that if the UK is forced into a second lockdown, a more nuanced message must be adopted to make sure patients seek medical help when they need it.
‘If subsequent surges in Covid-19 cases arise, national communication strategies must be carefully considered to ensure that large numbers of patients with urgent health needs do not disengage with health services,’ they wrote.
REVEALED: LOCKDOWN BLOW TO UK HEALTH
The Mail, September 14