Calculation of the underprivileged area score for a practice in inner London

A study was undertaken in a London inner city practice to determine an underprivileged area score for the practice based on information derived from questionnaires completed by 773 patients. The practice studied was new, had a highly mobile population and operated an 'open door' policy to new registrations--factors which were all considered to be contributing to a high level of workload. This was confirmed by the practice underprivileged area score which at 60.37 was considerably higher than the comparative score of 17.22 obtained for the same patients based on 1981 census information. This method highlights the differing workloads of practices in the same area and provides a means by which to make comparisons between practices.