How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect access to GP services for people already experiencing problems accessing healthcare?
The COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally changed how patients access health services and how healthcare is provided. GP services saw fewer patients face-to-face and offered more remote consultations during COVID-19 lockdowns.
We know how these changes affected the way some patients accessed GP services during the first part of the pandemic, based of research carried out on patients with diabetes, breathing problems and mental health issues.
But we understand very little about how the pandemic affected people who were already finding it difficult to access healthcare. These groups are sometimes known as ‘vulnerable’ people, as their circumstances make them more vulnerable to experiencing health inequalities. Did the pandemic make it even more difficult for them to get the help they needed, and how did that change through multiple lockdowns?
Project aims
Our research will look at the following groups:
- People experiencing domestic violence
- People with mental health issues
- People with addiction problems
- People with learning disabilities
- Children with safeguarding concerns
We will look at whether lockdowns and changing rules affected how often people in these groups accessed GP services in England. We will also look at how often people from these groups accessed GP services in comparison with everyone else.
What we hope to achieve
We hope our research will raise awareness of how lockdowns may have affected people from vulnerable groups in different ways. It could show us how to provide better GP services and improve access to healthcare for these groups, whether in a pandemic situation or not.
Lead collaborators
- Natasha Swinscoe, Health Innovation West of England
ARC West Staff
Dr Theresa Redaniel
Team Lead and Senior Lecturer in Health Services Research and Epidemiology
Professor Frank de Vocht
Applied Data Sciences Team Co-lead
Professor Chris Salisbury
Professor in Primary Health Care
Professor Kate Tilling
Applied data science workstream lead
Professor Yoav Ben-Shlomo
Cross-cutting Methodological Theme LeadPartners on this project
Health Innovation West of England
Health Innovation West of England is a diverse network of partners working collaboratively to put innovation at the heart of healthcare, to improve patient outcomes and contribute to wealth creation. It aims to do this by translating research into practice, and developing and implementing integrated health care services.
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is internationally renowned and one of the very best in the UK, due to its outstanding teaching and research, its superb facilities and highly talented students and staff. Its students thrive in a rich academic environment which is informed by world-leading research. It hosts the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute for Health Research.