Patients living in more deprived areas have fewer GPs per head of population, and a worse experience of GP appointments, according to new research for BBC Newsnight.
GP care is under intense strain up and down the country, with recruitment and burnout listed as key factors – but this new analysis suggests the more deprived your local area, the more the strain might be felt.
Researchers from Cambridge University commissioned by Newsnight told the programme inequalities had widened in the last year, and that GP practices in poorer areas were not only dealing with deeper, more complex health needs than wealthier areas, but were receiving less funding per patient to deal with them.
Newsnight has been to Blackpool, the poorest town in England, to hear first hand from doctors, public health officials and patients what it’s like being sick in an under-doctored, hugely deprived area.
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