Rising cost of living is damaging people’s health, says royal college

Over half of UK people in a survey commissioned by the Royal College of Physicians have reported that their health has been negatively affected by the rising cost of living.

The poll by YouGov was conducted after members of the college reported the effects they were seeing of the squeeze in living standards on people’s health, and the resulting impact on health inequalities.

Doctors reported examples such as a patient being unable to afford to travel to hospital for lung cancer investigation and treatment, a woman whose ulcers on her fingertips were made worse by her house being cold, and conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease being made worse by pollution and exposure to mould because …