July 5 marked the 66th birthday of the NHS. Unfortunately it was no cause for celebration as the government continues its attempts to dismantle the NHS. To mark the day, hundreds marched through the streets of East London in protest against cuts to GP funding which threaten to devastate GP services in some of the most deprived parts of the country.
As part of their attacks on the NHS, the government is changing the way funding is allocated to GP services. Traditionally funding has been allocated based on deprivation, with greater funding based on greater need. This has now been changed to allocate more funds to areas with older, rather than more deprived, populations. Given that life expectancy is shorter in more deprived areas, and longer in wealthier areas, this change is resulting in funding being reallocated from poorer to richer areas, increasing health inequalities and depriving those areas most in need of the resources to run vital services.
