Impact of COVID-19

2. Indirect impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, as part of emergency planning procedures, health care services were reprioritised to manage increased demand as a result of COVID-19 infections. This led to an increased waiting time for treatment and treatment activity decreased in some specialities. Residents with long term or pre-existing conditions experienced longer wait times for hospital appointments and less than a third received their usual treatment.

Nationally, treatment decreased more in the most deprived areas (9,162 per 100,000 compared to 6,765 per 100,000 in the least deprived areas). In the Northumberland CCG area, many patients chose to delay planned surgery during the pandemic to reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19 in hospital, but also to reduce the perceived burden on health care services.

Mirroring the national picture, excess deaths in North Tyneside increased throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Deaths due to other medical conditions, including cancer and heart disease, increased.

During 2020, smoking rates in North Tyneside decreased to just under 13%, in line with the national trend. However, a quarter of adults reported that they drank alcohol more often and more units of alcohol during the pandemic. Nationally there was a 20% increase in alcohol-specific deaths due to alcoholic liver disease, mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol and alcohol poisoning. The North East has the highest rate in the country at approximately 22 per 100,000 population, significantly higher than the UK rate of 14 per 100,000 population.

National lockdowns and social restrictions imposed to control the levels of infection, led to an increase in residents experiencing loneliness. This was particularly prevalent amongst older people, residents identified as being clinically extremely vulnerable and care home residents, who were already prone to experience high levels of social isolation and feelings of loneliness before the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to a higher level of vulnerability if they contracted COVID-19, these residents experienced more restrictions in terms of social interaction.

Throughout the majority of the pandemic, visits to care homes from family and friends were suspended, and many people avoided contact with old or vulnerable family members for fear of unwittingly passing the virus on. Those identified as clinically extremely vulnerable were advised to shield, remain at home and not leave the house to go shopping or pick up prescriptions.

Volunteering significantly increased throughout North Tyneside. VODA’s Good Neighbours Scheme had 430 volunteers supporting more than 3,200 clinically extremely vulnerable residents with access to food and medication. Access to social care services decreased during national lockdown periods, increasing dependence on unpaid carers – 7% of carers reported that they reduced their working hours during the pandemic to manage their caring responsibilities. This doubled to 14% in the 30–49-year-old age group. Most unpaid carers are female.

The lockdown periods introduced to manage infection levels, as well as an increase in people working from home, led to reduced acccess to a range of external support services. Domestic abuse reporting increased each time lockdown measures were eased through the COVID-19 pandemic and there was a significant increase in the number of high-risk cases reported. In North Tyneside, almost half of all domestic abuse cases reported involved households with children.

Children and young people experienced significant disruption to school-based learning throughout the pandemic. Schools were closed during the first lockdown from March to September 2020, with the exception of vulnerable pupils and children of keyworkers.

During the 2020/21 academic year, children and young people experienced frequent periods of disruption at school. ‘Bubbles’ had to self-isolate and stay home from school if a positive case was identified. Across the North East, the learning loss for primary school pupils throughout the year was 2.8 months, which increased to 3.3 months for secondary school pupils. Nationally, pupils in schools with high take up of free school meals experienced the largest learning loss, which has likely widened the attainment gap.