Health Authorities and most of the London Teaching Hospitals were disadvantaged by, and unhappy about, the new formula. The simplicity and transparency of the formula made it difficult for politicians to manipulate. The idea that mortality should be used to influence the distribution of health resources was questioned on the grounds that most health care is provided for people who do not die. The formula devised by the Resource Allocation Working Party survived until 1989 and did reduce the funding gap between the Northern regions and London. It was replaced by a more complex formula announced in the publication of Working for Patients in 1989,and there have since been further changes and debate, particularly about the relative weighting to be given to old age, which favours more prosperous Southern areas, and deprivation which favours poorer Northern areas. See also Barnett Formula References Gatrell, A.C. (2002) Geographies of Health: an Introduction, Oxford: Blackwell. Medical and health organisations based in the United Kingdom National Health Service