Funder: Leverhulme / ESRC
Staff: Carol Propper, George Leckie, Michael Damiani (Kings Fund) and Jennifer Dixon (Kings Fund)
Current policy in the NHS in England seeks to extend the choice of provider of care for patients. Two years ago we began a project examining travel patterns prior to the introduction of the current choice based policies. We found that there is a strong gradient in travel by ward deprivation: while on average individuals living in poorer areas travel only a little less than all others, very few people in these areas travel long distances. We also find that these differences persist within major specialites. We are now investigating what the sources of these differences are focusing on the role played by GPs and hospitals.
