Practice funding still unequal
Released 31/10/2008
Report finds wealthy areas receiving more funds
Practices in the poorest areas are receiving lower levels of funding, a recent report has found.
The report looked at the budgets allocated to GPs for payment of drugs and hospital care for patients, with the results suggesting that there is significant difference between the wealthiest and poorest areas.
The wealthiest tenth were found to be overfunded by around two per cent, with the poorest tenth underfunded by around the same figure.
Practices in wealthier neighbourhoods received around £94,000 annually - the equivalent cost of 12 coronary bypasses.
The HSJ found that only few PCTs were passing on funds in line with the DH fair shares guidelines for equitable distribution.
Source: Management in Practice