Council tax valuation band as marker of deprivation and of general practice workload.
This study tests the hypothesis that Council Tax Valuation Banding (CTVB) is a measure both of UK socioeconomic status and of general practice workload. It is a retrospective cohort study based in a UK semi-rural general practice, North Wiltshire. The study group is a randomised selection of UK general practice patients. The outcome measures are socio-demographic and primary care workload parameters versus CTVBs by logistic regression analyses in a sample of 378 patients (90% participation rate). People who pay little or no council tax are significantly less likely to live in owner-occupied homes or to have access to a car than their counterparts. There is also a significant inverse association between CTVB and demand for general practitioner services. CTVB could be an accessible, universal, non-census marker of UK socioeconomic status and of general practice workload that would have validity in the context of primary care resource allocation and is a concept worthy of further investigation.
Beale
N
N
Northlands Surgery, Calne, Wiltshire, UK. nbrndcal@aol.com
Baker
N
N
Straker-Cook
D
D
D015331:Cohort Studies; D005194:Family Practice / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D015276:Health Care Rationing; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012923:Social Class; D013660:Taxes; D006113:United Kingdom; D016526:Workload