Covid-19, Disability and Health and Social Care in Waltham Forest
Download (PDF 680.54 KB)Summary of report content
In March 2021, Healthwatch Waltham Forest (HWWF) started working with other Healthwatch groups in North East London to survey the impact of COVID -19 on the accessibility of health and social care services that disabled people use. HWWF expanded the study to include interviews with disabled people and carers of disabled people from Waltham Forest.
Most respondents said they had access to key information on staying safe during the pandemic. However, fewer said they had access to inform about changes to services with changes to social care the area with the lowest reported level of information access. The people interviewed said up to date and local information was the most difficult to find.
Over half said access to their GP had become harder during the pandemic. Some interview participants believed GPs preferred to see fewer patients, and that the COVID-19 pandemic gave surgeries an ‘excuse’ to reduce in-person appointments. Many interview participants felt that the use of e-consult to triage patients and remote appointments made it difficult to get healthcare. Most respondents said access to hospital specialists had become much harder. Most respondents said their regular hospital appointments were cancelled.
Most respondents said the COVID-19 pandemic had affected their health and wellbeing. A significant group of respondents said the pandemic had negatively affected their mental health. However, none of these respondents said they had accessed mental health services so far during the pandemic. Most respondents in this group said this was because they believed they didn’t need mental health services.
Most participants believed health and social care services did not have enough capacity to keep up with demand during the pandemic. Some believed the COVID-19 had a worsening effect on services which were already struggling. Some believed that emergency measures to roll back health and social care services were part of a long-term trend and would ultimately be permanent.
The report contains 6 recommendations.