NHS funding shake-up could cost region £90m, warn MPs

A Health Select Committee report criticises a decision by Ministers to cut the weighting in NHS funding for health inequalities which will shift resources from the North to the South.

Public health experts in Manchester suggest Yorkshire could lose £87m once the full effects of the changes work through. Worst hit would be Barnsley, losing £14.7m, and Hull, losing £13.2m.

Only North Yorkshire and the East Riding would gain in the region under the change in the NHS funding formula which would leave Surrey as the biggest winner, picking up £61.4m extra.

The report also claims coalition reforms of public health, which will hand responsibilities to local authorities, pose a “significant risk” of widening health inequalities further.

It raises concerns about plans for a health premium – funding allocated to councils for good results – warning it will “undermine” areas struggling most to tackle problems.

Committee chairman Stephen Dorrell said: “The effect of this policy appears to be to target resources towards those areas which have made greatest progress with their public health challenges and away from areas which face the greatest outstanding problems.”

Jo Webber, deputy director of policy at the NHS Confederation, said: “We can’t see how the health premium is going to work as presently envisaged. Better off areas will find it much easier to show measurable improvements in health inequalities. Without major changes, those areas with the greatest need could lose out.”

A Department for Health spokesman said for the first time the Government was placing a duty on all parts of the health system to reduce health inequalities and no areas were losing money.

“We know the need to access healthcare increases for elderly and deprived populations. This is about achieving the right balance that funds this access whilst ensuring the vital work to reduce health inequalities continues.”

The spokesman said public health budgets would be ringfenced for the first time from 2013 to ensure money for programmes including cancer awareness was protected.