07 November 2008
By David Scott
There must be changes in the 'unfair' system of funding doctors working in the poorest communities, the Scottish Parliament's health committee has said.
In a response to the Scottish Government report Equally well, which looked into ways of reducing health inequalities, the MSPs warned that GPs in deprived areas were financially disadvantaged. Furthermore, a shift in GPs from affluent areas to these areas was needed if 'deep-rooted' health inequalities were to be addressed.
The committee called on the Scottish Government to take a 'robust stance' in its negotiations with the British Medical Association over the terms of the next GP contract.
Committee convener Christine Graham said health problems for the most deprived people in Scotland were around three times greater than those encountered by people living in affluent areas. 'Yet there is a flat distribution of GPs across Scotland. That cannot be right,' she stressed.
Graham added: 'The way that the funding formula currently works means that GPs working in deprived areas are financially disadvantaged compared with their colleagues working in more affluent areas.'
A Scottish Government spokesman said changes to the current GP contract would reduce the extent to which a minimum price income guarantee mechanism prevented surgeries in the most disadvantaged communities from receiving a larger share of resources.
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