The present study comprehensively analyses the multifaceted challenges contributing to healthcare disparities in England, focusing on the NHS service’s accessibility gap and its profound implications. Through a synthesis of research findings, this piece reveals a disturbing reality: a staggering number of premature deaths—exceeding one million—have occurred due to poverty-related factors, exacerbated by systemic issues such as economic austerity policies, the COVID-19 pandemic, and racial discrimination within the healthcare system.
Notably, individuals from low-income backgrounds face significant barriers to accessing essential medical services, resulting in disparities in cancer prevalence, maternal mortality rates, and career advancement opportunities, particularly affecting ethnic minority populations. The article highlights the need for thorough interventions to tackle healthcare inequality’s root causes and minimize its impact. Yet, governmental indifference persists, perpetuating a cycle of discrimination and premature death among the most marginalized populations in the UK.
Research on the relationship between poverty and longevity
The NHS service’s accessibility gap has led to many deaths. Researchers from the Institute of Health Equity (IHE) at the University of London studied the relationship between poverty and longevity. These researchers published a report titled “Health Inequalities, Lives Cut Short.” The report revealed that from 2011 to 2019, 1,062,334 individuals in England passed away prematurely. The dead would have survived if they had lived in the areas where 10% of the country’s wealthiest people live.
More than one million premature deaths due to poverty
According to the UCL Institute of Health Equity (IHE) report, life expectancy in England varies according to where people live. The difference in the average age of citizens and whether they are poor or affluent is a sign of “shocking political failure”. Since 2011, a combination of factors has caused the premature death of more than one million people. These factors include poverty, the implementation of economic austerity policies and the Covid-19 epidemic. Therefore, the NHS service’s accessibility gap has led to the premature death of the poor.
Official data on the premature death of the British
Researchers from the University of London examined the life expectancy of people in areas where the wealthiest 10% of the country do not live. This report indicates that in 2020, 151,615 more people lost their lives. This amount was more than the annual premature death rate in this country due to the COVID-19 epidemic. The IHE wrote that around 148,000 people died as a result of the austerity policy implemented by the UK government in 2010.
NHS service’s accessibility gap: Poor access to medical services
The NHS service’s accessibility gap means low-income people have less access to health services. Researchers have asked the government to pay attention to the fact that the poor die earlier than the rich. One million premature deaths in ten years show that healthcare inequality affects the UK community. Compared to the 10% of the very rich, 90% of the English community has less access to healthcare facilities.
Cancer is more common among people with low incomes.
In their report, London University researchers have written that only America has a worse health status among developed countries than England. Life expectancy in America is worse than in England. The Guardian wrote: Poverty in deprived areas leads to approximately 33,000 extra cancer cases annually.
Poor women die earlier than rich women.
The NHS service’s accessibility gap also affects women negatively. A new study in England reported racial inequality in the country’s health care system and the resulting dangers for blacks. Women living in the poorest areas of England die an average of 5 years earlier than women living in the wealthiest areas. Also, during the coronavirus epidemic, blacks and Asians were more victims of Covid-19 compared to whites.
Racial minorities are more likely to get cancer.
The Guardian reports research findings indicating a 38% lower rate of cancer diagnosis among black individuals compared to whites via the screening system. After analyzing data from 240,000 cancer patients spanning a decade, the study reveals that 8.61% of patients detected their condition through screening. Interestingly, ethnicity plays a significant role, with white patients at 8.27%, close to the national average, while only 5.11% of black patients were identified through screening.
Double the career advancement of whites in the UK healthcare system.
Experts consider the reason for more cancer in black people in England to be the barriers in the treatment system affected by racism and black people’s ignorance of cancer symptoms. White nurses in England’s public health system are twice as likely to get promotions as their black and Asian colleagues. White and mixed-race nurses are twice as likely to be promoted as their black and Asian counterparts, according to the Sky News. Ethnic minority employees of the public health system are neglected due to structural racism.
Promotion of white nurses compared to black nurses
Research by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) shows that the disparity and discrimination in career promotion are most apparent among nurses aged 35 to 44. The share of white nurses from promotion was 65.9%, the share of mixed-race nurses was 64%, the share of Asian nurses was 38.3%, and the share of black nurses was 35.2%. The RCN stressed that racism has a devastating effect on ethnic minority staff. Black people working in hospitals and social care experience physical abuse at higher rates than other workers.
Patients’ lousy experience of racial discrimination
There is evidence that patients from ethnic minorities have worse experiences of healthcare than white patients. Widespread inequity in various health care harms millions of patients’ health. The accurate scale of health disparities faced by ethnic minorities reflects the fact that racism, racial discrimination, barriers to accessing health care, and poor data collection on ethnicity have negatively impacted the health of Black, Asian, and minority populations for many years.
Death of black pregnant women during childbirth
Black pregnant women in the UK are 3.7 times more likely to die in childbirth than white pregnant women. The Women and Equalities Committee announced this statistic in a report. Many non-white pregnant women in the UK do not receive standard antenatal care. The British government and the health care system do not take the role of racism in this issue seriously.
The need to provide new criteria to eliminate inequalities
Discrimination against black pregnant women has caused several parliamentarians, especially representatives of colour, to ask the government to provide new criteria to eliminate inequality against non-white pregnant women. The Women and Equality Committee in the British Parliament has also announced that the number of deaths of pregnant women in poor areas of the UK is increasing. Women in impoverished regions of the country are two and a half times more likely to die during childbirth than women in more affluent areas.
The indifference of the government to the inequalities in the healthcare system
The gap in access to NHS services exists in many dimensions. So far, there has been no will to solve this problem. The researchers wrote that political authorities could prioritize health equality in the UK but do not. The indifference of the conservative government is the most critical factor for the continued discrimination in the British health care system: poverty, inadequate housing, unemployment, and racial discrimination cause premature death of the poor.
