Dr. Edel McGinnity:

It is important to note that deprivation is not just a feature of urban general practice. Some of the most deprived parts of the country are all along the western seaboard. One of the reasons we are concentrating on urban general practice is because the number of people involved is much higher in cities. A weighted capitation payment would have the benefit of distributing the deprivation allowance equally everywhere there is deprivation. Every practice that has patients in these areas would benefit from it. There are other possibilities. We could decide that if 60% of the GMS patients of a given practice are in an area of extreme disadvantage, the practice could be entitled to an extra practice nurse or a salaried GP. There could be different ways to approach it. The easiest way to do it generally would be with a separate payment attached to each individual patient.