Recommendation 19

We asked NHSE&I to explain these disparities. It told us that the COVID-19 pandemic had had a differential effect across the country and that the differences reflected where the NHS had most diagnostic capacity and skilled workforce compared with where these resources were more stretched. It also said that the large disparities reflected different levels of demand for healthcare across the country.41 The Health Foundation, in written evidence, stated that, on average, the most socio-economically deprived areas of England faced the biggest backlogs and patients in those areas consequently faced longer delays.42