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Thursday, 06 July 2006 10:58

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NHS funding 'rewards the unhealthy'

NHS Grampian has launched a scathing attack on the formula for funding in Scotland, accusing the Executive of rewarding authorities with patients who make unhealthy lifestyle choices.

In its submission to the Government, NHS Grampian claims the system is unfairly weighted in favour of allocating funds to boards, such as Greater Glasgow, where patients suffer a higher rate of fatal diseases, such as lung cancer and heart disease.

"Boards and their residents are financially rewarded for unhealthy lifestyles," it said. "In effect, much of the Grampian deficit is because Glaswegians smoke more".

The claims are made by Dr Karen Foster, the board's consultant in public health, and Professor Jamie Weir, of the area medical committee, in a joint report on behalf of NHS Grampian as part of the consultation on the future of the controversial Arbuthnott funding scheme.

The NHS Grampian report states: "It is the view of clinicians and management in Grampian that we as an NHS board have been under-funded over many years ... for the clinical services that we provide for patients.

"It is too simplistic to assume that just because deprivation exists, the budget of a health board should be increased to cope with the presumed increase in health costs when the opposite - deprivation associated with decreased health costs - may be true. This is a morally and ethically unacceptable principle, in our view."

The report claims there is a "marked element of unfairness" in Arbuthnott and that NHS Grampian largely loses out as a result of the additional weighting for factors such as mortality rates for patients under 65.

The board's submission continues: "Premature mortality is dominated by a small number of diseases - heart disease, stroke and lung cancer make up 41 per cent of 0-64 year deaths in the Greater Glasgow Health Board area”.

An Executive spokesman said: "No board has lost out in recent years and every one has had above-inflation funding increases. NHS Grampian's funding is 35 per cent higher at £177 million than five years ago." He added: "It is entirely right that health resources go where they are needed most”.