Decision making in health care involves two sets of related decisions: those concerning appropriate service provision on the basis of existing information; and those concerned with whether to fund additional research to reduce the uncertainty relating to the decision. Information acquisition is...

A structured questionnaire survey of all 131 health authorities in England, Wales and Scotland was carried out between September 1995 and January 1996. The priority setting questionnaire was sent to chairpersons or chief executives of each health authority, although respondents had a variety of...

This paper analyses the effects of uncertainty on the demand for medical care. It employs a simplified version of Grossman’s human capital model of the demand for health to examine the consequences for the demand for medical care of increased uncertainty surrounding the effectiveness of...

In late 1985 the Secretary of State for Health and Social Services set up a review of the resource allocation formula created by the Resource Allocation Working Party (RAWP) in 1976. This review may be completed early in 1987 and will raise major issues about the efficiency of the NHS and...

This paper first reviews the range of health problems faced by different groups of the ‘homeless’, and second, the use of health services by the homeless and, in particular, their first contact with the service. The current patterns of provision have been widely criticised and the various...

Having identified woman over 65 with the condition, fractured neck of femur, as the main cause of slow throughput and low bed availability on the acute orthopaedic wards at Huddersfield, it was decided to review existing management policies towards this group of patients. After consultation with...

In this paper, I shall take a restricted view of the scope and limits of health economics, concentrating on that area which has, in Europe at least, been expandtng fastest in the last decade or so. I am going to focus, as implied in all I have said so far, on economic appraisal in health care. I...

The last decade has shown a concerted effort in the UK to find ways of reducing coronary heart disease (CHD), culminating in the recent government target of a 30% reduction in the rates in people under the age of 65 years to be achieved between 1988 and 2000 by modification of the main risk...

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 discusses the usefulness of performance indicators in health promotion. Health promotion and target-setting in health have both risen to the fore in the light of the Health of the Nation White Paper. This coupled with increasing pressure on all sectors of health care to demonstrate...