DEPRIVATION PAYMENTS TO GENERAL-PRACTITIONERS - LIMITATIONS OF CENSUS-DATA

The census data from which deprivation payments have been calculated s ince June 1995 suffer from limitations including underenumeration; und er counting of homeless people and refugees, and artefactual errors be cause of the way in which the 1991 census data were tabulated. These l imitations reduced the fairness of the changes that many practices exp erienced in their deprivation payments, The validity of the current sy stem of deprivation payments would be improved if these limitations we re borne in mind when allocating payments to practices and if enumerat ion districts were used as the basis of payments rather than electoral wards.