People living in more deprived areas in England were more likely to have attended an emergency department last year than those living in more affluent areas, with difficulty in accessing primary care services a possible factor, according to an analysis by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).1
Differences in underlying health only partially explained the differences in emergency department attendance observed between March 2021 and March 2022.
The odds of emergency department attendance increased with the level of deprivation, according to the analysis of more than 51 million people using data from the 2021 census and emergency care data. A fifth (22%) of the study population attended an emergency department at least once in the year, with highest attendances among infants and those aged 80 years and over. …