Poor areas in England are missing out on funding and additional primary care staff because their greater health needs are not adequately taken into account by current funding arrangements.

A new report, published today by the Health Foundation, says the opportunity to use GPs and primary care networks to reduce health inequalities has not been fully realised.

General practices in the most deprived areas of England, where people experience worse health on average, could collectively benefit from an additional £18.6 million a year to improve the health of patients if the funding available to them better accounted for deprivation, the Foundation says.

Primary care networks (PCNs) are a major vehicle for government investment in general practice, worth £2.4 billion in 2023/24. The Health Foundation said NHS England must reform its funding formulas to ensure PCNs in areas of high deprivation receive the funding they need. Its research found when increased need is accounted for, there were significantly fewer additional primary care staff, such as pharmacists, physiotherapists and care coordinators, recruited to networks in the most deprived areas compared with the least deprived areas at six fewer per 100,000 needs-adjusted patients.

Dr Rebecca Fisher, a GP and a senior policy fellow at the Health Foundation, said: “General practice in the poorest areas, where people have the greatest health needs, is missing out on much needed funding and additional staff. Without this, the health of people in more deprived areas risks falling even further behind other parts of the country. 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.”