Levelling up or left behind? Does increasing GP training numbers inadvertently widen health inequalities?

Increasing the GP workforce will not automatically level up healthcare provision; instead, increasing GP training numbers could worsen health inequity and inequalities. This is especially of concern if there are fewer opportunities to learn, train, and build confidence in under-served, socioeconomic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:British journal of general practice 2023-07, Vol.73 (suppl 1), p.bjgp23X733965
Main Author: Butler, Daniel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Family physicians
Health disparities
Socioeconomic factors
Training
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Increasing the GP workforce will not automatically level up healthcare provision; instead, increasing GP training numbers could worsen health inequity and inequalities. This is especially of concern if there are fewer opportunities to learn, train, and build confidence in under-served, socioeconomically deprived areas. To examine how representative of wider socioeconomic deprivation the postgraduate GP training practices are in Northern Ireland (NI). The deprivation indices and scores of GP postgraduate training practices were compared against general practice in NI. Representation of practices whose patients live in blanket deprivation, higher deprivation, and higher affluence was compared. Of 319 practices in NI, 171 (54%) were registered as postgraduate training practices and had a mean deprivation score of 3.02 (95% CI [confidence interval] = 2.91 to 3.12) compared with non-training practices' higher mean deprivation score of 3.2 (95% CI = 3.01 to 3.33), -value
ISSN:0960-1643
1478-5242
DOI:10.3399/bjgp23X733965