Lockdown: Five Years On

Today marks five years since the first UK-wide COVID-19 lockdown. Today we’re reflecting on the impact of the pandemic, subsequent lockdowns and the disproportionate and lasting effects this had on older people. Five years on, we’re asking the question - has anything really changed in society’s response to older people?

 

On the 23rd March 2020, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the first nationwide lockdown to stop the widening outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, ordering the public to stay at home and closing many sectors down. Over the course of the pandemic, older people were at the eye of the storm, rightly the focus of policy-making and media attention while at the same time experiencing greater isolation, fear, frustration and in many cases, victims to increased levels of abuse.

 

Loneliness and Isolation

 

The impact of the multiple lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 on older people was significant and far-reaching. One of the principal issues was the unparalleled increase in loneliness and isolation with older people finding themselves disconnected from vital support networks. A survey conducted in April 2020 found that 35% of older people found themselves lonely as a result of the lockdown.

 

Five years on from the pandemic, little has changed for older people. Data from 2023 included in our Safer Ageing Index for England found that 24% of people over the age of 50 felt lonely, with 7% feeling lonely often and 9% feeling cut off from society. Data from Age UK in 2024 found that 940,000 people over the age of 65 were lonely often and 270,000 go a week without speaking to a friend or family member.

 

While life may have returned to ‘normality’ for many people in the years since, the tragic reality is that for many older people across the UK, loneliness and isolation is their normality.

 

The risks of loneliness and isolation in older age are multifaceted, encompassing health risks such as a 50% increased risk of dementia[i] as well as an increased risk factor for abuse, opening many older people up to exploitation. If we are to work towards a safer ageing society by 2050, addressing the epidemic of loneliness and isolation must be a central tenant.

 

Do not resuscitate decisions

 

An area of deep concern during the pandemic were reports of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and GPs making resuscitation decisions without consulting families, residents or care home staff. Pressure to sign ‘Do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation’ (DNACPR or DNRs) decisions were frequently reported to our helpline in this period.

 

As a result, Hourglass joined the voices of many calling for an independent enquiry into the use of DNRs. In October 2020, the Care Quality Commission conducted a review finding evidence of misuse of DNRs, finding that a shocking 30% of individuals with a DNR in place and 28% carers were not aware that a DNR had been applied.

 

Last year the former Health Secretary throughout the pandemic, Matt Hancock, admitted to the COVID Inquiry that DNRs were ‘wrongly applied during the pandemic.’

 

These findings point to a callousness to the way older people were treated throughout the pandemic, from medical staff pressuring or applying DNRs without consultation, all the way to the Prime Minister. In October 2023, the former Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance alleged to the Inquiry that Boris Johnson thought "the whole thing is pathetic and Covid is just nature's way of dealing with old people”, stating that stated that older people should ‘accept their fate’.

 

If true, these allegations evidence the Government’s disregard for the wellbeing of older people during the pandemic, especially in the health and social care system. Five years on from the pandemic, the government still retains a lack of focus around older people, with little discussion from a policy perspective around protecting older people from experiencing abuse.

 

The crisis in care homes

 

Another area of critical concern during the lockdowns were the crisis in care homes, with a report indicating that 29,400 more care home residents, directly and indirectly attributable to COVID-19 died during the first 23 weeks of the pandemic than would be expected from historical trends. A major cause of this, identified in the National Audit Office Review published in 2020 was the lack of supply of personal protective equipment (PPE).

 

A report published in 2021 by the Public Accounts Committee (2021) [ii]found that a decision to prioritise hospital PPE resulted in care home workers and residents being left without proper protection. The Commitee’s chair said: “Frontline workers were left without adequate supplies, risking their own and their families’ lives to provide treatment and care.”

 

The committee said that the shortage of PPE in care homes were only a fraction of the PPE needed compared with the health service, this only being taken seriously by the government after high mortality rates became clear.

 

Throughout the pandemic and beyond, Hourglass was steadfast in our call for a public inquiry into decision-making for policy regarding care homes, demanding the vocies of older people and care home professionals be heard. In June, 2023 hearings officially began for the UK COVID-19 Inquiry and are currently still ongoing. The inquiry’s first report cited that the UK was ‘ill prepared’ and that the UK government ‘failed their citizens’.

 

On the 2nd April 2025, Chief Executive of Hourglass Richard Robinson will be giving evidence on Module 10 of the COVID Inquiry - a part of the inquiry that will examine the impact of COVID on the UK population, with a focus on the vulnerable, key workers, the bereaved, mental health and wellbeing. We’re pleased to be able to represent the voice of older victim-survivors in this vital inquiry and look forward to sharing more details about the evidence after the 2nd April.

 

Five Years On: A Worsening Crisis

 

Hourglass giving evidence to the COVID-19 Inquiry brings us full circle. The very same day that the first UK lockdown was announced, Action on Elder Abuse became Hourglass. Since then the charity has grown and developed significantly, expanding our frontline services, national profile and influence in the political sphere.

 

The pandemic should have been a wake-up call to politicians, influencers, policymakers and society as a whole that older people deserve the same attention, rights and protection as other age groups. Yet five years on and Hourglass is still fighting to be heard.

 

Yet, five years on from the lockdowns, all signs indicate that the abuse of older people is worsening, not improving. In 2020-21, we received 9,845 calls, texts, and messages to our frontline services—by 2023-24, that number had nearly doubled to 18,018.

 

We are continuing to hear the worst forms of abuse reported to our helpline each and every day. Older victim-survivors exploited by family members for financial gain, physically abused by partners and left neglected by those supposed to care for them. The abuse of older people is nothing short of an epidemic, with an estimated 2.6 million thought to be affected each and every year.

 

This crisis will only deepen as our population ages. By 2050, there will be 9.6 million more older people in the UK and for the first time there will be more over 60s than under 16s. Without intervention, the abuse of older people will continue to escalate, leaving even more victim-survivors suffering in silence.

 

Which is why Hourglass is calling for the creation of a safer ageing society by 2050, one that ensures that all older people have access to necessary services, can trust their caregivers and surroundings and have equal opportunities and recognition in society. A safer ageing society, free from abuse, harm, exploitation, is not a pipedream or an impossible ambition. It is achievable and essential.

 

Five years ago, the pandemic forced us to reflect on what kind of society we want to build. Today, we ask you to reflect once more—what kind of future do we want to age in?

---

Take the OATH

 

There are over two and a half million reasons why we should all take the OATH. Because that’s how many older people suffer abuse, harm, neglect and exploitation every year. Yet their voices are rarely heard. OATH is about creating a voice so loud that it cannot be ignored any longer.

Your signature makes that voice louder. Your signature shows you are prepared to have your voice heard.

Take the OATH today: https://wearehourglass.org/oath