Written question WQ94406
- Asked by
- Andrew RT DaviesConservative
- To be answered by
- Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 4 days
Question
What is the Cabinet Secretary's response to the findings from Cardiff University researchers stating that for every 10 per cent increase in the number of patients at a GP practice in the most deprived areas in Wales, they receive 1 per cent less in funding due to current funding policies?
Answer
Answered by Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Since 2004, funding for General Medical Services (GMS) has been allocated through a Global Sum Formula Allocation (the ‘Carr Hill Formula’). The primary purpose of this formula is to ensure that GP practices are compensated based on the needs of the populations they serve, accounting for variations in workload and patient demographics.
We acknowledge and welcome the findings of the Cardiff University study around the impact of this allocation on practices which serve more deprived areas. We will continue to engage with new evidence on the health impacts of inequality and primary care funding and how we can ensure resources are distributed fairly.
Our expectation is that local health boards are best placed to understand and respond to the needs of the communities they serve, targeting investment and services beyond the universal Global Sum Formula Allocation to GPs. Our accelerated cluster development arrangements provide a clear line of sight between front-line services and funding decisions by the health boards. GP practices come together at cluster level through the GP Collaboratives which enable a very local and sensitive understanding of population need for GMS. This then informs plans at cluster, pan cluster and health board level.