ArticleBMC medicine2018
Chronic morbidity, deprivation and primary medical care spending in England in 2015-16: a cross-sectional spatial analysis.
Article in BMC medicine, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The impact of primary care funding on health inequalities: an umbrella review.Primary health care research & development · 2025Pooled it
- Observational
- Deprivation scores and NHS practice payment trends in England 2018-2019 to 2023-2024:a multivariable analysis.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2026Article
- Counting general practitioners: a comparative repeat cross-sectional analysis of GPs in NHS general practice in England.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2026Article
- Associations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with life satisfaction and self-rated health: quantifying the subjective burden in a population-based study.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Adjusting primary-care funding by deprivation: a cross-sectional study of Lower layer Super Output Areas in England.BJGP open · 2025Article
- General practice characteristics associated with pay-for-performance in the UK: a systematic review.BJGP open · 2025Article
- Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme uptake, patient satisfaction, and QOF achievement: an ecological study from 2020-2023.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Article
- Trends in clinical workload in UK primary care 2005-2019: a retrospective cohort study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2024Article
- GP working time and supply, and patient demand in England in 2015-2022: a retrospective study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2024Observational
- Landscape of Digital Technologies Used in the National Health Service in England: Content Analysis.JMIR formative research · 2024Article
- Article
- Determinants of government spending on primary healthcare: a global data analysis.BMJ global health · 2023Article
- How new clinical roles in primary care impact on equitable distribution of workforce: a retrospective study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2023Article
- Predictors and population health outcomes of persistent high GP turnover in English general practices: a retrospective observational study.BMJ quality & safety · 2023Observational
- Factors Associated with Self-Report of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Adults Seeking Dental Care in a Developing Country.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Clinical pharmacists in primary care general practices: evaluation of current workforce and their distribution.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2022Article
- Article
- How sensitive are avoidable emergency department attendances to primary care quality? Retrospective observational study.BMJ quality & safety · 2021Observational
- Equity and the funding of Primary Care Networks.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPrimary care provides the foundation for most modern health-care systems, and in the interests of equity, it should be resourced according to local need. We aimed to describe spatially the burden of chronic conditions and primary medical care funding in England at a low geographical level, and to measure how much variation in funding is explained by chronic condition prevalence and other patient and regional factors.
methodsWe used multiple administrative data sets including chronic condition prevalence and management data (2014/15), funding for primary-care practices (2015-16), and geographical and area deprivation data (2015). Data were assigned to a low geographical level (average 1500 residents). We investigated the overall morbidity burden across 19 chronic conditions and its regional variation, spatial clustering and association with funding and area deprivation. A linear regression model was used to explain local variation in spending using patient demographics, morbidity, deprivation and regional characteristics.
resultsLevels of morbidity varied within and between regions, with several clusters of very high morbidity identified. At the regional level, morbidity was modestly associated with practice funding, with the North East and North West appearing underfunded. The regression model explained 39% of the variability in practice funding, but even after adjusting for covariates, a large amount of variability in funding existed across regions. High morbidity and, especially, rural location were very strongly associated with higher practice funding, while associations were more modest for high deprivation and older age.
conclusionsPrimary care funding in England does not adequately reflect the contemporary morbidity burden. More equitable resource allocation could be achieved by making better use of routinely available information and big data resources. Similar methods could be deployed in other countries where comparable data are collected, to identify morbidity clusters and to target funding to areas of greater need.
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