NHS funds moved to richer areas, Labour says

Labour is accusing the government of moving NHS spending in England away from poorer areas towards richer parts of the country.

It says this is because of changes to the funding for primary care trusts.
For years, areas which have higher incidences of poor health have been given a higher per-capita funding but this weighting is set to be reduced.
But the government said Labour would have devoted fewer overall resources to the NHS if it had been elected.
Labour says the changes mean less well-off areas such as Manchester and Tower Hamlets in east London will lose out in the allocation of health funding, while more prosperous parts of the country - such as Surrey and Hampshire - will benefit.
This was based on an assessment of funding changes made by public health bodies in Manchester.
The government said the changes were based on independent advice and Labour's figures were misleading.
It said NHS spending was going up in real terms in the coming year across England as a whole, a pledge which Labour would not match.
The Department of Health said the primary care budgets in Surrey and Tower Hamlets would, in fact, increase this year by a similar amount.
It added that a greater emphasis on the prevention of illness in future would assist those living in poorer parts of England.

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