ACP-UK Rapid Response to Recently Published Data on the Impact of Covid-19 on People with Disabilities
As an organisation, ACP-UK wishes to express its concerns about the data[1] published by the Office for National Statistics highlighting the impact of Covid-19 on people with disabilities. Disabled people accounted for 59% of all Covid-19-related deaths for the period 2nd March to 14th July 2020, with older women reported to be the group at greatest risk.
We recognise that people with pre-existing health conditions are more likely to be at risk of contracting Covid-19 than their healthy counterparts, and that they are more likely to have treatment withdrawn should they require an admission to hospital. We know that some people with disabilities have been categorised by GPs as ‘not for resuscitation’, with no discussion or consultation. We disagree with such unilateral decision-making, and believe that disabled people have the same rights to dignity, treatment and care as those without disabilities. We are also aware that many patients with Covid-19 have been discharged from hospital into care homes, putting the lives of staff and residents at risk. The exponential increase in care home deaths observed over the past six months is tragic, and lessons must be learned if a repeat of this situation is to be avoided.
Disability is inextricably linked with poverty, and this relationship has been compounded by a decade of austerity which has the most profound impact on those who, because of wider inequalities, may require support from the welfare state.
We take the view that those with pre-existing health conditions should be supported to shield from the virus, and that there should be no penalty for doing so. We also believe that it is essential that adequate plans are put in place to protect vulnerable people in residential care settings over the coming months.
These issues are not new: disabled people have long had their needs ignored and diminished by health and social care services. The pandemic has simply served to highlight these inequalities. Services for disabled children have been withdrawn in many places; vulnerable people have struggled to access adequate nutrition; many have been unable to access sufficient benefits to meet their basic needs. The mental health of people with disabilities is likely to have been significantly affected by the events of the past six months. As we enter the second wave, we call for the support available for disabled people to be extended, for their rights to access timely care to be embedded by health and social care services, and for consultation and collaboration with those with pre-existing conditions to be enshrined in clinical practice.