The effects of postponed care during the COVID-19 pandemic on medium-term healthcare use

During the first 2 major outbreaks of COVID-19 in 2020, much planned care (not related to COVID) was stopped. This was done to reduce pressure on hospitals and prevent the virus from spreading. We don't yet know exactly what the consequences of this were. For example, it is not known whether people later received the care they needed. In this study we use information about the use of hospital care to see what the consequences are of discontinuing care after a longer period of time. We look at all people in the Netherlands in total, but also specifically at vulnerable groups. Previous research showed that some people received less care than others. We are investigating whether they caught up with this later. This research shows what happens to our healthcare system if less care is provided and which people are extra vulnerable to this. This is important because we can learn lessons from this for the next pandemic. Both for stopping planned care and for catching up on that care.