North Shropshire MP Helen Morgan has raised concerns over the starkest NHS cuts in England.
An investigation by the British Medical Journal revealed that Shropshire, Telford, and Wrekin Integrated Care Board (ICB) halved its discretionary spend on primary care services from £4.5 million to £2.3 million for 2024-25.
This is the deepest cut in England and leaves Shropshire at the bottom of the national league table for overall funding for discretionary care, at just £4.40 per head.
Discretionary funding, which accounts for 10 per cent of GP funding, supports services outside the core contract such as phlebotomy, anticoagulation monitoring, wound care, ECGs, and minor surgery.
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The funding is intended to provide flexibility to cater for specific local needs.
Ms Morgan, who was recently appointed as the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Health and Care, has previously highlighted how Shropshire is one of the worst-hit counties in the ‘GP postcode lottery’ and called for additional support for GPs in rural areas.
She said: "People should have a right to access the care they need, when they need it.
"These statistics once again show that Shropshire is lagging far behind in funding, despite the fact that it often costs more – not less – to provide services in rural areas.
"Patients in Shropshire already face a postcode lottery when it comes to appointments, with hugely different results even between nearby villages.
"It is no wonder we have such problems with ambulance waits and full A&Es at Shrewsbury and Telford when people can’t get the care they need in the community.
"There needs to be a recognition from the Labour Government that rural areas like ours have different needs to the average, and that services have to be funded properly centrally to cater for us properly."
The area with the highest funding per head is Somerset, where patients receive more than 12 times more funding each at £54.80 per head.
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