Speaking at the Rural Health Forum in London on Monday, Mr Dobson said much research was badly done and was a waste of money.

He added that the government was already investing £50m in transport facilities for people in rural areas, which would help them get to see their doctor.

And he said the planned extension of NHS Direct, the nurse-led health helpline, would help those in isolated communities.

More resources

Mr Dobson was speaking after calls from the Rural Health Forum for more resources for country areas.

Health service funding is allocated on the basis of greatest need, but doctors who work in rural areas claim the indicators used to measure deprivation are biased in favour of urban areas.

They warn that unless the system is changed health care in rural areas could be plunged into crisis.

Statistics already show that 83% of rural parishes in England have no resident GP, 91% no dental surgery, and 96% no optician. Only one in 100 has an accessible community hospital.

Doctors are also bracing themselves to deal with the fall-out from the collapse in profits in the farming industry. They fear a rise in psychological illness among farmers and workers dependent on the industry.

Dr John Wynn-Jones, director of the Institute of Rural Health and a GP in Powys, says research is urgently needed to modify the deprivation indicators so that they accurately reflect the health needs of rural areas.

Income is not a factor

Farmers are struggling

At present, the indicators include the proportion of the population from the ethnic minorities; the rate of car ownership and the level of unemployment. None of those factors was relevant in rural communities, Dr Wynn-Jones argued.

Conversely, factors such as per capita income - which is a more accurate reflection of deprivation in rural areas - are not taken into consideration.

Dr Wynn-Jones said: "The problem already appears to be significant, and with NHS trusts merging and services being centred in urban areas it is going to be the people in the far-flung areas who will suffer."

Dr Wynn-Jones said the government also had to accept that the cost of providing health care in rural communities was inevitably higher than in urban settings.

"If we are looking for a genuinely equal health service and if the government is being honest in its commitment to these areas, these additional costs have to be faced," he said.

Waste of money

But Mr Dobson said: "There have been too many research programmes, many of which have been badly done, some a waste of money and others stuck at the back of a filing cabinet.

Frank Dobson: action not more research is what is needed

"We know what is wrong in rural areas. Now we need practical policies to address them."

Jane Randall-Smith of the Institute of Rural Health said she agreed with Mr Dobson that some previous reports had been badly planned.