The introduction and lifting of COVID-19 'lockdown' policy in Spring 2020 was associated with significant changes in mortality and service delivery across mental healthcare providers.
Research led by King's College London has found that the introduction and lifting of COVID-19 'lockdown' policy in Spring 2020 was associated with significant changes in mortality and service delivery across mental healthcare providers.
The study was published in BMJ Open and the researchers believe this is the most extensive multi-site evaluation of mental health providers to date.
People with mental health problems are thought to be particularly vulnerable to the isolating effects of the pandemic, face greater hurdles in accessing healthcare, and are more likely to have risk factors for severe COVID-19 illness (such as heart and lung problems) in addition to already-reduced life expectancy. Experts have warned that the impact of social distancing on at-risk populations poses a significant threat to their mental health. Health services worldwide had to implement radical changes to deal with the disruption of COVID-19, and the longer-term effect on mental healthcare services is unclear.
UK-wide collaboration
While individual sites have previously reported decreases in activity and a rise in mortality following the March 2020 lockdown, this study is the first to look at nationwide changes. Mental healthcare data were compiled from ten sources: eight NHS foundation trusts in England, one NHS trust in Scotland and the data on all health services provided to the population of Wales.
Researchers extracted data including patient deaths from all causes, inpatient admissions and discharges, and contacts with community healthcare teams for January to May 2019 and 2020. The analysis focussed on the changes following the implementing and relaxing of lockdown policies on 23rd March and May 10th.
