During 45 minutes of questions, Matt gave examples of the potentially harmful changes to healthcare during the pandemic, the impact of remote consultations on disabled people, and changes to routine appointments. Particular attention was given to the need for disability charities to insist on greater clarity in guidance in the early months of the pandemic, after rushed guidance led to examples of the blanket use of DNACPR (do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation) orders being wrongly placed on people with learning disabilities.

He also discussed how people with hearing loss or sight loss were frequently denied accessible health information, including inaccessible shielding letters sent to blind recipients. He concluded by outlining recommendations for the future.

Reflecting on his appearance as a witness, Matt Stringer said:

“Disabled people were an afterthought during the pandemic. There was a real sense of despair and feelings of abandonment through this process, as people had decisions about their lives, health and wellbeing taken out of their hands.

“At RNIB, we’ve heard stories from people across the country who received vital information in a format they couldn’t access. This is a clear breach of the NHS Accessible Information Standard, which was introduced in 2016, and requires that people receive communications in a format they can read.

“More shockingly, disabled people make up 20 per cent of the population but were proportionately much more likely to die from Covid-19 accounting for 60 per cent of Covid related deaths between January – November 2020 which is shameful. Four years on, we’re still waiting for research to find out why this was, and how this increased risk could be prevented in future pandemics.

“Today was a critical moment to draw attention to what lessons must be learned and what needs to change in the event of a future pandemic. It’s vital that disabled people are seen as individuals, and that decision-makers never again overlook their rights and needs.”

RNIB is formally involved in the Inquiry as part of the Disability Charities Consortium (DCC), which is a group of nine disability charities: the Business Disability Forum, Leonard Cheshire, Mencap, Mind, NAS, RNIB, RNID, Scope and Sense.

The inquiry has been set up to examine the UK’s response to and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and learn lessons for the future. It is formed of a series of modules, RNIB is participating in module three, which focuses on healthcare.

Public hearings began on 9 September giving us an important opportunity to highlight ways in which disabled people, including people with sight loss, were disproportionately affected, and press for vital lessons to be learnt.

We know that many blind and partially sighted people were disproportionately affected, and we want this to be heard and understood by the Inquiry. It’s essential that policy decisions affecting all aspects of people’s daily lives are never again made without involving people with sight loss and disabled people from the very start.

Our film features blind and partially sighted people describing experiences including:

• Difficulty accessing food and essentials.
• Inaccessible health information and COVID-19 testing.
• Lack of access to eye care services.
• Difficulty with social distancing and navigating local streets.
• Access to education by children and young people.
• Increased isolation and decreased independence.