Health Inequalities (North-East)
Debate between Ian Swales and Diane Abbott(12 years, 10 months ago)
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Ian Swales
I bow to the hon. Lady’s knowledge in this area. She certainly has a great deal more than I do. I do not know the answer to her question.
In 2003, the Government identified 12 cross-Government headline indicators and 82 cross-Government commitments, but sadly overall it was effective action that was the problem. In 2005, the Government identified 70 spearhead local authority areas for special attention, and credit to them for that. One third of those areas were in the north-east. However, only in London did those spearhead areas see a narrowing of health inequalities.
I know that this issue is complex, but some things are basic. The NAO report showed that more deprived areas had fewer GPs. Some had significantly fewer. They were also paid less. I was shown barely believable figures showing that Redcar and Cleveland had only half the average GP resource of the most deprived 20%. Clearly, that is not a good position to be in.
Ms Diane Abbott (Hackney North and Stoke Newington) (Lab)
How does the hon. Gentleman think that forcing through NHS reforms that are vehemently opposed by both the British Medical Association and the Royal College of General Practitioners will encourage GPs to go and work in deprived areas that have a shortage of GPs?
Ian Swales
I believe that the wider issue of NHS reforms is outside the scope of this debate, but certainly I see a growth in the number of GPs already.