23.05.12
Age-based funding could hit poor north
A plan proposed by health secretary Andrew Lansley could see the age of residents take a greater precedence over the level of deprivation as the basis for how the NHS budget is allocated, new research suggests.
A study of the plan – announced in a speech last month – was published in the British Medical Journal and considers which trusts would have lost or gained funding under the new criteria.
The PCT in Knowsley, Merseyside would have lost £89.8m of its £309.7m budget if the age-based system had been in place in the 2011-12 financial year, whereas Surrey PCT would have gained £350 per person.
The NHS in the north-east would have lost 14.9% of its funding, or £265 per patient, and the north-west would have experienced a cut of £209 per head, 12% of its total budget.
The South East Coast would have seen a funding increase of 12.6% or £188 per head and the South Central area would gain 15.8%, or £220 per patient.
Author of the research, Clare Bambra, a professor of public health policy atDurhamUniversity, said: “Severing the link with deprivation will skew resources disproportionately towards with high utilisation and high concentrations of the elderly. This will lead to a considerable shift of health care funding away from the neediest, poorer areas of the north and the inner cities and towards the least needy, most affluent and most elderly areas of the south.”
A Department of Health spokesperson said: “The secretary of state is not suggesting that deprivation shouldn’t be part of the future funding formula – just that age should continue to be the primary factor. We are making sure that funding is given to areas that need it most. The secretary of state has asked an independent body of experts for advice on how best to achieve this. No decisions have been made.”
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