Impact of reported NHS Pressures onolder people’s access to health services
This briefing paper shares key findings relating to older people’s views and experiences of health services in Wales, captured as part of a research survey undertaken by the Commissioner during March 2023.
Background
The NHS provides essential treatment and services for older people in Wales, many of whom experience poor health, as evidenced by the fact that healthy life expectancy is as low as 59 in some places and that two-thirds of people aged 65+ report living with a longstanding illness.1
Easy, timely access to the NHS is therefore important for many older people, particularly given the impact that delays in accessing services can have on a range of factors such as quality of life, deterioration of conditions and morbidity.2
Pressures on NHS Services
Already under significant pressures as a result of the pandemic, the NHS in Wales faced further ‘unprecedented’3 challenges during the winter, and was described by the Welsh NHS
Confederation as being ‘on a knife edge’ in terms of its ability to cope due to the impact of covid and flu, as well as levels of sickness amongst staff.4
This unfortunately meant a number of issues for patients, including cancelled appointments, long waits for ambulances, bed shortages and delays in seeing medical professionals.
Pressures also led to one health board declaring a critical incident during this period, as well as frequent messages from health boards that patients should only seek treatment for urgent or life-threatening illnesses and injuries.
The Commissioner was concerned that these widely reported issues might be deterring older people from seeking treatment, and used part of a research survey to examine how NHS
pressures were affecting people’s decisions to access key health services.
1 https://olderpeople.wales/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Understanding-Wales-ageing-population-5.4.pdf
2 https://www.health.org.uk/publications/long-reads/waiting-for-care
3 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-64126632
4 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-64151141
Research Survey Findings
The Commissioner’s research survey involved 503 telephone interviews with a representative sample of the Welsh population aged 60+, which were conducted between 28 February and 17
March 2023.
Within the survey, the Commissioner asked a series of questions about how the reported pressures on the NHS might be impacting upon older people’s decision to access services,
covering GP services and A&E, as well as wider services such as dentistry and optometry.
The findings show that over 40% of the older people surveyed said they were less likely to visit A&E, try to get a GP appointment, or contact an out of hours GP service as a result of reported pressures.