Poverty linked to poorer access to NHS services

People living in deprived communities find it harder to access NHS services and are more likely to stay in hospital for longer and die earlier than those living in the least deprived areas, a new analysis has found. The King’s Fund’s report, Illustrating the relationship between poverty and NHS services, shows that people living in the deprived areas are almost twice as likely to say the cost-of-living crisis is impacting their physical health compared to people in the least deprived areas (49% vs 27%). The data from January 2024 also reveals that it is harder for people living in the