Residents with disabilities in south-east London sometimes struggled to access food and care amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report personally compiled by a local MP.

The report also states Black and Minority Ethnicity (BAME) doctors were more at risk of death during the pandemic due to “racial discrimination within the NHS”, while children are likely to suffer long-lasting impacts due to the impact on education of the virus.

The findings come from a report commissioned by Erith and Thamesmead MP Abena Oppong-Asare, who launched her own study after her request for a Government investigation into the impact of Covid-19 on protected characteristics fell on deaf ears.

The Labour MP said the report, titled ‘Leaving Nobody Behind in Erith and Thamesmead’, drew on constituent case studies, meetings with local organisations and country-wide data.

At the release of the report on Tuesday, Ms Oppong-Asare said it pointed at sections of the community impacted by coronavirus which needed to be addressed by the Government.

“Lots of people have been absolutely devastated by Covid-19 and some groups are clearly more affected than others but the Government has refused to engage with a lot of issues,” the Labour MP said.

“This report highlights a lot of long-term issues that need addressing. I hope it will help the Government finally realise that they need to reach out to at risk groups with much greater support.”

In compiling the report, Ms Oppong-Asare worked with various local organisations from across London.

These included EveryDoctor, a not-for-profit advocacy group for UK doctors, whose evidence, the report said,”indicates that racial discrimination within the NHS is a contributing factor towards the disproportionate level of deaths compared to workforce representation”.

“According to EveryDoctor BAME NHS staff are more likely to be working without adequate PPE and an analysis in April 2020 showed that 64 per cent of BAME healthcare workers said they felt pressured to work in hot wards (wards where COVID-19 patients are treated) compared with 33% of doctors who identify as white,” the report stated.

“In April 2020, 47 per cent of doctors did not have access to World Health Organisation (WHO) approved PPE, according to EveryDoctor but

due to existing institutional racism BAME doctors were less likely to advocate for themselves for more protections.”

It also found disabled people living in Erith and Thamesmead faced numerous hardships during lockdown, including difficulty accessing food, according to research from disability equality group Inclusion London.

The report stated “disabled people who usually rely on supermarket deliveries but were not considered clinically extremely vulnerable, could no longer access delivery slots” during the pandemic, while “food parcels provided by the Government did not take into consideration accessibility needs such as mobility and available cooking appliances”.

Following the publishing of the report, Ms Oppong-Asare called on the Government to tackle the Covid-19 impacts which she said were “disproportionately effecting people in protected characteristic groups”.

Among the recommendations was for the Government to directly fund user-led organisations “as disabled people are best placed to understand and respond to their needs”, while local authorities should be funded to

support the increased need for health and care services.

An independent report into structural racism in the NHS should be conducted by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the report stated.