Rural and remote health services lose out on NHS funding

Rural and remote health services lose out on NHS funding The way the NHS distributes funding between local health services is unclear, unfair and fails to fully compensate remote and rural areas for the extra costs they face, an evidence review conducted by the Nuffield Trust for the National Centre for Rural Health and Care, concludes today.

The financial position of remote hospitals is so precarious that six of England’s smallest and most remote hospital trusts account for nearly a quarter of the £1 billion deficit carried by NHS organisations in England.

The factors used to decide how funding is allocated transfer at least £1.3 billion away from rural areas.

See also:

• Rural health care: A rapid review of the impact of rurality on the costs of delivering health care Nuffield Trust
• Patients living in the country get a raw deal from the NHS, study finds The Daily Telegraph