According to a report by think tank, doctors should not be allowed to take up new positions in wealthy areas. This would help reduce the gap between poor and middle-class communities.

  • According to a think tank, GPs can be trained in areas that are deemed ‘under-doctored’ by the government.
  • New report shows that poorer regions have nearly half the number of general practitioners as areas with more wealth.
  • Figures show Government  lagging behind its target of 6,000 more GPs by 2024










According to reports, GPs may be required to serve in areas that are less fortunate as part of a plan to bridge the gaps with areas more wealthy.

An ex-senior official called on a regulator for the establishment of new family practices in order to improve health care provision in rural areas.

A report by the Social Market Foundation found that poorer areas may have half as many doctors per head than richer ones.

According to the Times, the report emphasizes that Boris Johnson must close the gap as part of his levelling-up plan.

This comes just a year after Sajid Javid, Health Secretary, pledged to address the “diseases of disparity” that cause poorer people die ten years earlier than those who are wealthy.

The figures show that there is one full time GP per 2,289 patients.

One GP is needed for each 1,688 Oxfordshire patient and one per 1,731 West Suffolk patients.

GPs could be forced to work in deprived towns in a bid to close the gap with more affluent areas under government plans, according to a new report from the Social Market Foundation

A new report by the Social Market Foundation suggests that GPs might be made to work in less-developed areas in order to fill the gap between more prosperous and poorer communities.

Some four in ten appointments are still not being carried out face-to-face, figures showed. The above graph shows the proportion of appointments that have been face-to-face since September two years ago

According to figures, four-in-ten appointments do not take place face-to-face. This graph displays the percentage of face-to-face appointments since September 2002.

There are however 2,833 patients per GP in Fylde, Wyre, Lancashire and 2,761 Hull.

A greater number of patients can be seen in towns than in cities. Blackpool North has 4,480 full-time doctors for every GP. Blackpool South is home to 1,900, but this number is much lower.

Experts are calling for the return and reform of the Medical Practices committee. This committee had the ability to deny new GP applications in those areas where there was already a sufficient amount of doctors. 

John Gooderham was a former secretary of the Medical Practices committee. It was disbanded during Tony Blair’s premiership. He believes that a similar procedure should be reinstated in order to prevent areas being “under-doctored”.

In an essay for Social Market Foundation, he stated that GP shortages are affecting the most vulnerable areas. This trend is growing and increasing health inequalities.

“Where doctors work, should not be left up to the markets as in recent years.

Here are the top 15 countries where overseas trained GPs got their original qualification. India accounts for the vast majority of these overseas trained GPs, accounting for one in three, followed by Pakistan and Nigeria. Ireland and Germany are biggest EU contributors to overseas trained GPs in England

These are 15 top countries from which overseas-trained GPs received their initial qualification. India is home to the largest number of overseas-trained GPs. It accounts for 1 in 3 of all these GPs. Nigeria and Pakistan are close behind. Germany and Ireland make up the largest EU contributions to England’s overseas-trained doctors.

This map shows the percentage of GPs in each Clinical Commissioning Group in England which originally trained overseas. The nationwide total of foreign trained GPs is 20 per cent, but there is massive regional variance. Some areas have recorded more than half of their GPs as having got their original qualification from a non-British nation

This chart shows the proportion of GPs who were originally educated overseas. While the nationwide average of foreign-trained GPs stands at 20%, there are large regional variations. Certain areas report that more than half their GPs are from non-British countries.

As Mr Gooderham would not like to hear GPs tell them where they should work, he said that this was’strongly opposed’.

However, he stated that having the ability to restrict where GPs may work (even if this is never implemented) is less draconian.

He stated that a GP could realize that they would not be permitted to practice in an area that is too medically supervised and choose to instead work under-doctored.

Currently, the NHS is using £20,000 bonuses in a bid to encourage new GPs to move to areas that are under-doctored.

Sajid Javid says that the Government has fallen behind in its targets of adding 6,000 GPs to its network by 2024.

James Kirkup is the director of Social Market Foundation. He stated that if anyone wants the country to be level, they should get more doctors working where it’s most necessary.

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