Is Scotland’s new GP contract addressing the inverse care law?

Stewart W Mercer, Carey Lunan, David Henderson, David N Blane

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Scotland, like many countries around the world, has wide health inequalities due in part to the longstanding ‘inverse care law’ in which a mismatch between patient needs and provision of care in general practice in deprived areas results in poorer care and worse patient outcomes compared with affluent areas. In early 2018, Scotland embarked on a new GP contract, a stated aim of which was to reduce healthcare inequalities. National data on avoidable mortality showed a 4.8 (2019) and 4.9 (2021) fold higher rate in the most deprived compared with the most affluent decile of the population. However, the distribution of whole-time equivalent (WTE) general practice clinicians per 10,000 patients - including GPs, and practice-employed practice nurses and other allied healthcare professionals - showed the opposite trend in both 2019 and 2022, with fewer WTE clinicians of all types in GP practices in deprived areas compared with affluent areas. These findings suggest that radical change is needed to reverse the inverse care law in Scotland.
[141 words]
Keywords: primary care; inequalities; Scotland
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)287-290
Number of pages4
JournalFuture Healthcare Journal
Volume10
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Nov 2023

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • primary care
  • inequalities
  • Scotland

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