The introduction of competition between health care providers in the NHS has been advocated as a means of promoting efficiency. In this paper we review one model of competition, internal markets, in which health authorities would be able formally to contract to buy and sell clinical services...

This paper consists of the report of an option appraisal. It is exactly in the form in which it was presented to the Management Team and the Authority in the DIstrict to which it relates. The only changes are that ficticious names have been substituted for the originals to maintain anonymity....

The preparation of Approval in Principle submissions is likely to be a once in a lifetime event for most health districts and is a rare event even for some regions. In consequence, many officers find preparing the major part of the submission, the Option Appraisal, to be an unfamiliar and...

1. The development of a strategy based on all aspects of health, not just health care provision, is to be welcomed as it is the emphasis on the outcomes, rather than the process, of implementing health policy. Health strategies can be designed to set policy agendas, to foster inter-departmental...

Most decisions in public health are based on imperfect information, and this is certainly the case for dental health. Relatively little is known about the cost-effectiveness of the various options available to improve dental status. It is, however, well recognised that regular exposure to...