This report examines the feasibility of incorporating patient outcomes in mental health into a productivity measure. It examines which outcome measures are most commonly used in mental health, the practical issues about collecting these outcome measures, whether they can be converted into a...

We analyse the impact of the provision of care on the health and quality of life (QoL) of mature female informal caregivers using a representative sample drawn from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). We match each informal caregiver with a non-carer using Propensity...

Working conditions in Western countries have changed dramatically in the last twenty years, witnessing the emergence of new forms of employment contracts. The number of "standard" fulltime permanent jobs has decreased, while non-standard work arrangements such as temporary, contingent or...

The fundamental aim of public services is to improve the quality of life of citizens. The main objective of this study was to investigate the influence of public service organisations (PSOs) on aspects of quality of life (broadly measured) of citizens at a local level. We assembled a rich...

The Centre for Health Economics and National Institute of Economic and Social Research have recently completed a project funded by the Department of Health to improve measurement of the productivity of the NHS. The researchers have suggested better ways of measuring both outputs and inputs to...

A composite indicator is an aggregated index comprising individual performance indicators. Composite indicators integrate a large amount of information in a format that is easily understood and are therefore a valuable tool for conveying a summary assessment of performance in priority areas....

Long waiting times for inpatient treatment in the UK National Health Service have long been a source of great popular and political concern, and therefore a target for policy initiatives. One such is the London Patient Choice Project, under which patients at risk of breaching inpatient waiting...

In recent years there have been marked changes in organisational structures and budgetary arrangements in the English NHS, potentially altering the relationships between purchasers (primary care organisations (PCOs) and general practices) and providers. Using data on elective hospital admissions...

This paper examines the relationship between acute NHS Trust star ratings in England (generated by the Department of Health) in 2000/01 and 2001/02 with various other Trust characteristics and performance indicators from a Trust level database maintained by the Centre for Health Economics. The...

There has been increasing interest in the ability of different methods to rank efficient hospitals over their inefficient counterparts. The UK Department of Health has used three cost indices to benchmark NHS Trusts. This study uses the same dataset and compares the efficiency rankings from the...