'Nothing about us without us': UK Covid Inquiry hears closing arguments from disabled groups
The UK Covid Inquiry recently completed its public hearings on access to healthcare during the pandemic. The last days provided a final opportunity for disability charities to summarise the impact of the pandemic, and the UK's response to the pandemic, on disabled people and their healthcare, including what must change in any future national crisis.
Blind and partially sighted people were disproportionately affected by the pandemic, with rates of death for those with a vision impairment aged 30 to 69 years 8.4 times higher than for those without any sensory impairment. After adjusting for a range of characteristics, such as age, geography and health, rates of death were still 1.4 times higher than for those without any sight or hearing loss.
RNIB has been formally part of the UK Covid Inquiry's proceedings as a member of the Disability Charities Consortium, which comprises nine national disability charities, with our Chief Executive, Matt Stringer, giving evidence on behalf of the charities involved.
Speaking on 27 November, the Consortium's King's Counsel, Jamie Burton, set out powerfully how disabled people were disadvantaged through inaccessible communications, changes to the way healthcare was delivered, and changes to rules around visiting. Distressingly, the inappropriate use of Do Not Attempt Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation orders may have resulted in deaths of people with learning disabilities. Summing up, he urged the UK Government to make co-design of policy with disabled people the default, and not the exception.
RNIB's Chief Executive Officer, Matt Stringer said:
"In closing remarks, our counsel highlighted how persistent problems with inaccessible communications during the pandemic left blind and partially sighted people feeling excluded because they could not read crucial information. Neither the Government nor the NHS took sufficient measures to solve the communication problems; and putting RNIB’s contact details on a letter that is in an inaccessible format was wholly inadequate.
"Now, eight years on from its first publication, we must see the NHS England Accessible Information Standard fully implemented and made a reality.
"The inquiry has heard how disabled people have had the rough end of the stick again and again, and shockingly, we still do not know what lay behind disparities in mortality rates for blind and partially sighted people, and other disabled people.
"In any future crisis, it's vital to make co-design of policy with disabled people the default, not the exception. We now await the Inquiry’s recommendations on this topic. Never again must policy decisions affecting all aspects of people’s daily lives be made without involving blind and partially sighted and disabled people from the very start."
Next steps
The Inquiry's recommendations on healthcare are expected to be published later in 2025. RNIB will be contributing evidence to other parts of the Inquiry, such as on the inaccessibility of Covid tests, and the impact on blind and partially sighted people's mental health and wellbeing.
