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Households in the South East receive the lowest NHS funding per person of any region in the country, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has said.
The average person living in the Home Counties received £2,087 in National Health Service spending in the year to April, £140 less than average across England.
Meanwhile, Londoners received £312 more than their South East counterparts and the highest per person across England, the think tank said.
Across the country, suburban and rural areas get a particularly low share of public health spending, the IFS said, in addition to lower “place-based” funding per person.
Place-based funding is government money that spans the NHS, schools, the police, local government and public health.
People in the South East have the highest average weekly earnings outside of London, according to the Office for National Statistics.
However, while the South East receives far less public money than any other region in England, the IFS concluded it still receives 1.8pc more than it should get based on relative spending needs.
The South East received the least total public funding across all sectors of any region in England, at £4,038 per person. This was 6.3pc below the national average of £4,309.
Residents in the South West received the lowest amount of funding for schooling per person, at £811 per year – £115 less than the nationwide average.
The IFS highlighted massive variations in funding across local authorities. York receives the lowest total funding per person at £3,640, while Blackpool receives the most at £5,650 – a gap of £2,000, or 55pc more.
The IFS said that while the levels of public funding vary across the country, this should take into account the differences in demand for services and in the costs of providing them.
Kate Ogden, an economist at the IFS and an author of the report said: “If one of the aims is for people to be able to access consistent public services across the country, then the current systems are not fit for purpose.”
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