North to lose out as NHS cash diverted to elderly

PLANS to shake-up NHS funding by diverting funds into areas with more elderly people could see hundreds of millions of pounds flow out of health services across the North of England and into the wealthier South, experts warn today.

A study by health researchers at Durham University concludes Health Secretary Andrew Lansley’s stated intention to make the age of the local population the key factor in deciding how NHS money is distributed around the country will only widen the North-South divide.

A letter to the British Medical Journal (BMJ) published today, reveals the extent to which switching funding from areas of deprivation to those where there are more elderly would benefit wealthy, Conservative-voting communities in the South.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Researchers have analysed how funding distribution would change if based solely upon the age of the local populations – concluding that Yorkshire would lose 5.8 per cent of its NHS money.

Even harder hit would be the North West – losing 12 per cent – and the North East, losing 14.9 per cent. By contrast, parts of the South would enjoy funding increases of up to 16 per cent.

The Department of Health claims the figures are based on a “flawed analysis”, insisting Mr Lansley has never said funding allocations should be based entirely upon the age of the population.

But in a recent speech the Health Secretary made clear he wants to see far greater emphasis on age when funding is handed out.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Age is the principal determinant of health need,” he said.

“(The NHS) should be looking at what it is in your population data that is likely to give rise to a demand for NHS service. What is likely to make the biggest difference? Actually it’s elderly populations, who were not in substantial deprivation.”

Deprivation has long been the key driver in deciding how NHS funding is distributed, as there is clear evidence poorer areas have the worst levels of public health.

But Ministers have already downgraded the weight given to health inequalities in NHS funding allocations which will over time lead to funds flowing south.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The letter in today’s BMJ by Clare Bambra, professor of public health policy at the Wolfson Research Institute at Durham University, warns that focusing only on age and severing the link with deprivation and health need “will lead to a considerable shift of healthcare funding away from the neediest, poorer areas of the North and the inner cities towards the least needy, most affluent, and most elderly areas of the South”.

While some part of the region – those areas with an elderly population such as parts of North and East Yorkshire – would potentially benefit from the changes, the impact on inner cities and more deprived parts of South and West Yorkshire would see a significant net loss to the region as a whole.

John Healey, the Labour MP for Wentworth and Dearne and former Shadow Health Secretary, said: “This is part of a pattern for this Government. We are seeing stealth changes that push funding away from areas of need into those more likely to vote Tory.”

Mr Lansley, however, insists it is elderly people who need the most support from the NHS, and that areas with high numbers of pensioners will need the money most. He has set up an independent committee to advise the new NHS Commissioning Board on how funding should be handed out.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A Department of Health spokesman said: “This report is based on a flawed analysis so the figures it quotes are inaccurate. There has never been any intention of allocating NHS resources according to age alone.

“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.”