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Health Inequalities

Does my hon. Friend also recognise that those of us, myself included, who have a primary care trust that is significantly above target on its allocation, also tend to be over-represented—many are in London—among health authorities with proportionately fewer patients registered for primary care? We are very anxious about that, so I hope the Minister will respond to that point. Twenty-five years ago, the Aitchison report identified that in London in particular, but in other parts of the country too, there was a problem with patients being able to register with a family doctor—too many single-handed practices and so forth—which put extra pressure on hospital services. Importantly, when we look at the formula, we must ensure that we do not lose sight of that very important point and end up hitting hard the areas, particularly in the inner city, that have a long history of not receiving the primary care that they need.