PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - N Beale
TI  - Unequal to the task: deprivation, health and UK general practice at the millennium.
DP  - 2001 Jun 01
TA  - British Journal of General Practice
PG  - 478--485
VI  - 51
IP  - 467
4099  - http://bjgp.org/content/51/467/478.short
4100  - http://bjgp.org/content/51/467/478.full
SO  - Br J Gen Pract2001 Jun 01; 51
AB  - The NHS is over 50 years old, but health inequalities remain prevalent in the United Kingdom (UK). Material deprivation may be less apparent; however, social deprivation is becoming worse while the markers of socioeconomic disadvantage remain unsatisfactory. Health is an even more elusive concept; nevertheless, the evidence for an increasing association between deprivation, poor health, and early death is overwhelming. Equally unavoidable is the impact of this social degradation on UK primary care. Service industries have deserted deprived communities but, on the whole, GPs struggle on. Denied the supplementary resources they deserve they become disenchanted, too exhausted to convert incentives into rewards. Clear-headed strategic thinking from the top brass is overdue.