Disabled people report delays to medical treatment

11th November 2020

Half of disabled people who received medical care before the coronavirus (COVID-19) began said their treatment had been affected; just under one-third (29%) said they were either currently receiving treatment for only some of their conditions and around 1 in 5 (22%) said that their treatment had been cancelled or not started.

This compares with 16% of non-disabled people who received treatment for only some of their conditions and 11% whose treatment had been cancelled or not started.

These statistics, released in Coronavirus and the social impacts on disabled people in Great Britain: October 2020, also showed that around one-third (27%) of disabled people said their treatment had continued as normal, compared with 44% of non-disabled people. Similar proportions of disabled (15%) and non-disabled people (16%) indicated that their treatment had continued but had been reduced.

Almost half (45%) of those disabled people who had reported receiving a reduced level of treatment or had their treatment cancelled in September 2020 said they felt their health had worsened in this time. This compares with 25% who expressed the same sentiments in July 2020.

Disabled people (17%) were also more likely to report a new or worsening health problem in the last seven days than non-disabled people (6%).

Disabled people are more likely than non-disabled people to report their treatment was cancelled or never started before lockdown.

Source

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/articles/coronaviruscovid19roundup/2020-03-26#society