COVID-19 impact inquiry Exploring the pandemic's implications for health and health inequalities

In October 2020, the Health Foundation launched a time-limited UK-wide inquiry to consider:

• how people’s experience of the pandemic was influenced by their health and existing inequalities
• the likely impact of actions taken in response to the pandemic on people’s health and health inequalities – now and in the future.

A healthy population is one of any nation’s most important assets. Good health supports positive social and economic outcomes – both for the individual and society as a whole.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, there were already signs that the health of the people in the UK was falling behind comparable countries:

• Our report on Mortality and life expectancy trends in the UK showed that the UK has a lower life expectancy and slower improvements in life expectancy than comparable high-income countries.
• The Marmot Review 10 Years On, published in February 2020, highlighted that not enough progress has been made over the past decade to address unjust and avoidable differences in people’s health and wellbeing.

The pandemic and the wider governmental and societal response have further exposed the inequalities in our society.

On Tuesday 6 July we published our report, Unequal pandemic, fairer recovery.

What did the inquiry do?

The inquiry gathered evidence from a wide range of sources to consider how experiences of the pandemic were influenced by people’s existing health conditions and inequalities in health. This highlighted implications for government decision making in recovery from the pandemic and the investment needed to ensure everyone can enjoy the same opportunity for good health and wellbeing. The inquiry was carried out by an in-house secretariat at the Health Foundation, guided by an expert advisory panel.