NHS funds for poor areas go to richest

Independent NHS inspectors accused the government last night of shortchanging patients in some of the poorest parts of England by denying their local hospitals and GPs a fair share of resources.

The Healthcare Commission disclosed that NHS trusts in areas with the greatest medical problems were losing up to 20% of the money they were due under the official formula for assessing local health needs, agreed in December 2002.

They are being starved of cash because ministers feared the consequences of reallocating resources from well-heeled areas that were found to be overfunded.

The commission, which took over responsibility for policing standards in the NHS and private hospitals in April, said the health service in Easington, County Durham, was getting £26.5m less this year than it should under the fairness formula - a shortfall of 20.2%.

Meanwhile, the NHS in Kensington and Chelsea, one of London's most prosperous boroughs, is getting £30.3m more than its fair share - an over-payment of 16.5%.

This latest twist in the continuing political debate about the "postcode lottery" in health came in the commission's first annual report on the state of the nation's healthcare.

It found that the 10 primary care trusts experiencing the biggest under-payments covered many of the the poorest areas of England, with above average levels of ill health.

It said they might be expected to need more GPs than the less deprived areas. Yet it found that they could afford nearly 20% fewer family doctors per 1,000 population than the 10 trusts enjoying the largest over-payments.

Sir Ian Kennedy, the commission's chairman, said the government had plans to iron out these inconsistencies by 2010.

"Eventually, more money will go to the communities that most need it," he said. "However, 2010 is far away and the Healthcare Commission would like to see more money going to those who need it, more urgently. We believe this is important if the government is going to achieve its targets for health and healthcare."

John Reid, the health secretary, promised to deal with the problem later this year. "I don't accept this is a postcode lottery. That suggests these things arose by luck or chance," he said.

Alan Milburn, his predecessor, devised a new formula for allocating money to reflect the health needs of each area. But he could not adjust the budgets immediately without causing instability in trusts that were due to get a smaller share.

Mr Reid said he would be drawing up a new three-year funding agreement later this year. "If it is consistent with the stability of the whole system, I would like to accelerate the redistribution."

Andrew Lansley, the shadow health secretary, said: "It is truly shocking that such a health divide still exists between rich and poor. Labour has failed completely to ensure resources reach areas with the most healthcare needs."

The report said there were positive signs that healthcare was improving generally, but the pace of improvement was not enough for the people in most need of help.

Waiting times were tumbling in England where fewer than 50 people were waiting more than nine months for an operation by the end of March.

But in Wales there were 8,457 waiting more than 12 months, including 1,401 who had been in the queue for 18 months.