Specialist outreach clinics in Sheffield: a faster tier of out-patient provision for the patients of fundholding GPs?
The new specialist outreach service in fundholding practices in Sheffield is largely for surgical patients classified as routine patients. Although patients were seen more quickly in specialist outreach clinics, no overall inequality of waiting times between fundholding and non-fundholding practices was shown.
Reducing the financial burden of maternal health services and achieving universal coverage of antenatal care may contribute to a reduction in socioeconomic differences in NMR. Further investigation of the mechanisms contributing to these cross-national associations seems warranted.