Health Economics Group, Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.
GLO, IZA and RWI-Research Network.
Health Econ. 2021 Jul;30(7):1711-1716. doi: 10.1002/hec.4282. Epub 2021 Apr 22.
Using monthly data from the Understanding Society (UKHLS) COVID-19 Survey we analyse the evolution of unmet need and assess how the UK health care system performed against the principle of horizontal equity in health care use during the first wave of COVID-19 wave. Unmet need was most evident for hospital care, and less pronounced for primary health services (non-emergency medical helplines, GP consultations, community pharmacist advice, over the counter medications and prescriptions). Despite this, there is no evidence that horizontal equity, with respect to income, was violated for NHS hospital outpatient and inpatient care during the first wave of the pandemic. There is evidence of pro-rich inequities in use of GP consultations, prescriptions and medical helplines at the peak of the first wave, but these were eliminated as the pandemic progressed. There are persistent pro-rich inequities for services that may relate to individuals' ability to pay (over the counter medications and advice from community pharmacists).
利用来自“理解社会（英国健康生活调查）新冠病毒调查”的月度数据，我们分析了未满足需求的演变情况，并评估了在新冠疫情第一波期间，英国医疗保健系统在医疗保健使用方面的水平公平原则表现如何。未满足的需求在医院护理方面最为明显，在初级卫生服务（非紧急医疗帮助热线、全科医生咨询、社区药剂师建议、非处方药物和处方）方面则不太明显。尽管如此，在第一波疫情期间，就 NHS 医院门诊和住院护理而言，没有证据表明收入方面违反了水平公平原则。在第一波疫情高峰时，使用全科医生咨询、处方和医疗帮助热线存在明显的有利于富人的不平等现象，但随着疫情的发展，这种不平等现象已经消除。对于可能与个人支付能力相关的服务（非处方药物和社区药剂师的建议），仍然存在持续的有利于富人的不平等现象。
