The Health Foundation has urged NHS England to change its funding formulas after a new report revealed that primary care networks (PCNs) in the country’s most deprived areas are not getting the investment they need.
According to new research from the Health Foundation, general practices in England’s most underserved communities could collectively benefit from an extra £18.6m a year if their funding better accounted for deprivation.
When increased need is taken into consideration, there were also significantly fewer additional primary care staff recruited in the most deprived areas compared to the least – six fewer per 100,000 needs-adjusted patient, according to the think tank.
The Health Foundation highlights how the disparities are “particularly concerning” given that, when PCNs were established in 2019, part of their remit was to reduce health inequalities.
PCNs are funded through nine income streams. Seven of these are calculated based on population, but only three use the integrated care board (ICB) allocation formula, which the Health Foundation says is the best at accounting for deprivation.
As new PCN and general practitioner contracts continue to be negotiated, the Health Foundation has suggested the remaining population-based income streams be switched to the ICB allocation formula.
Dr Rebecca Fisher, senior policy fellow at the Health Foundation and GP, said: “People in poorer areas need to have better access to GPs and other primary care professionals. Renegotiation of primary care contracts, currently being led by NHS England, is an opportunity to address this issue.”
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