A plan to remedy the shortage in disadvantaged places
Doctors banned from working in wealthier areas of Britain
Areas in Britain suffer from a significant shortage of therapists.
archival
Doctors in Britain prefer to work in certain places.
archival
picture
Doctors will be barred from taking new jobs in wealthy areas, forcing them to work in disadvantaged places, under a plan being considered by the UK government.
Restricting where family doctors and general practitioners can work is aimed at improving health services in poorer parts of the country, which have far fewer doctors, in a plan devised by a former senior official.
The Social Market Foundation think tank says in a recent report that poorer areas have nearly half the number of doctors per capita, compared to richer places.
The report stressed that closing the gap is essential to achieving Prime Minister Boris Johnson's goals to raise the level of services.
The ministers are understood to be interested in the plan after Health Minister Sajid Javid promised to tackle the "disparity problem" that causes life expectancy between the rich and the poor.
Nationwide, there is one full-time GP for every 2,289 patients, in underserved areas, a proportion that is getting worse.
But this drops to one GP for every 1,688 in Oxfordshire, and 1,731 in West Suffolk.
However, in Flyde and Wire, Lancashire, we find one physician for every 2,833 people, and one GP for every 2,761 in Hull.
The gap could be even larger within cities, with one doctor caring for 4,480 people, in Blackpool North, while the number drops to 1,900 in Blackpool South.
A body called the Medical Practices Committee had the power, until abolished under health reforms introduced by former Prime Minister Tony Blair 20 years ago, to deal with these contradictions by rejecting requests from general practitioners to work in areas that were "appropriately occupied".
According to John Gooderham, a former official with the Social Market Foundation, work was done to ensure "very few shortage areas by the late 1990s" and Gooderham called for a return to a similar system as part of the health bill passing through Parliament.
Deprived areas are the hardest hit by the shortage of doctors.
Gooderham says that this trend is increasing, and is leading to widening health inequalities, explaining, "The employment of general practitioners should not be left entirely to the institution of the social market, as it has happened over the past 20 years."
The former official agrees that any attempt to tell GPs where they should work will be met with "strong opposition," but he believes that restrictions on working in some areas are less severe and will determine doctors' choices even if the powers of the governing bodies are not used.
"The GP will realize that he will not be allowed to work in that over-delivered area, and will instead decide to work in a place where there are not enough doctors," Gooderham explains.
Currently, the British Public Health Authority is using bonuses of £ 20,000 to encourage new GPs to move to areas with shortages, while the re-formation of the Medical Practices Committee could balance the labor market, as it was abolished because ministers considered it to be not necessary.
GPs have fallen, while Javid admitted that the government is not on track to meet its 2024 target. As a result, patients have complained of difficulties seeing a doctor, which Javid said is exacerbating the pressure on health centres.
Level up
The director of the Social Market Foundation, James Kirkop, said that anyone “who wants to raise the level of health services in the country should address this, by getting more doctors to work in the places that need them most.”
England's chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, has been appointed in charge of the "Office for Health Improvement and Reducing Inequality" to bridge health gaps, which Health Minister Sajid Javid said is part of his "mission to raise health" and ensure "everyone has a chance to live." Happy and healthy life.”
• The Research Center «Social Market Foundation» says in a recent report that poor areas have nearly half the number of doctors per capita, compared to richer places.
£20,000, a bonus to encourage new doctors to relocate to areas where there is a shortage.
Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news