RNIB inquires into Covid-19 impact on disabled people

Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) CEO Matt Stringer gave evidence on October 10 on the impact of Covid-19 on UK healthcare systems.

Giving evidence on behalf of the Disability Charities Consortium (DCC), Stringer stated: ‘The health and wellbeing of millions of disabled people was badly hit by both the pandemic and the impact of policies brought in to respond to it.

‘Six in ten people who died during the pandemic were disabled. Yet there is little evidence to suggest this was acted upon with the urgency it required once that became known.’

Mark Hodkinson, CEO at Scope and co-chair of the DCC, added: ‘The work of this inquiry is hugely important for disabled people who were forgotten in official responses to covid-19.’