New study looks at the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on UK healthcare
Apr 27 2021
Just one third of people in the UK managed to access the hospital care they needed at the peak of the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic – according to new research from the University of East Anglia.
Image Credit: University of East Anglia
A new study published today looks at the extent to which people managed to access NHS healthcare in April 2020, and as lockdown restrictions eased.
The researchers found that, despite high levels of unmet need, there was equal access to NHS hospital care for people at different levels of income. And the NHS principle of equal treatment for equal need was upheld.
E-Mail
Just one third of people in the UK managed to access the hospital care they needed at the peak of the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic - according to new research from the University of East Anglia.
A new study published today looks at the extent to which people managed to access NHS healthcare in April 2020, and as lockdown restrictions eased.
The researchers found that, despite high levels of unmet need, there was equal access to NHS hospital care for people at different levels of income. And the NHS principle of equal treatment for equal need was upheld.
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic and the policy measures to control its spread lockdowns, physical distancing, and social isolation have coincided with the deterioration of people’s mental well-being. We use data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) to document how this phenomenon is related to the situation of working parents who now have to manage competing time demands across the two life domains of work and home. We show that the deterioration of mental health is worse for working parents, and that it is strongly related to increased financial insecurity and time spent on childcare and home schooling. This burden is not shared equally between men and women, and between richer and poorer households. These inequalities ought to be taken into account when crafting policy responses.
Research shows ‘large differences’ in Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy by ethnicity
Covid-19 vaccine Source: Ingimage
Initiatives to boost uptake of the Covid-19 jab among some ethnic groups must “continue to be a priority” in the UK, researchers have warned, after a new study revealed high levels of vaccine hesitancy among those from Black, Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds.
It also showed that young people and women were also less likely to take up a Covid-19 vaccine when offered.
“Our study data shows a positive picture in terms of being willing to vaccinated overall, however it highlights very large differences in vaccine hesitancy exist by ethnicity”
Women are more likely than men to reduce their hours or stop working when they have children – even if they earn more, new analysis shows.
Women’s employment rates fall from 90% to 75% and average weekly hours fall from around 40 to less than 30 when they become mothers, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said.
The arrival of children also marks the beginning of a long period of wage stagnation for women, it said, while the wages, employment and working hours of men “barely change” when they become fathers.
The findings, based on an analysis of data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study, are published as part of the ongoing IFS Deaton Review of Inequalities, funded by the Nuffield Foundation.