What evidence is there of the inverse care law in social care in Wales and has this been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic?

In 1971, Welsh general practitioner Julian Tudor Hart published the ‘Inverse care law’, which states that, “The availability of good medical care tends to vary inversely with the need for it in the population served. This operates more completely where medical care is most exposed to market forces and less so where such exposure is reduced” (Tudor Hart, 1971). This work was conducted following a rapid review about innovations to attract, recruit and retain social care workers for Social Care Wales. The aim of this rapid evidence summary was to explore if the Inverse Care Law could be applied to access and use of social care in Wales and whether unmet needs were exacerbated by the pandemic.

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