Rationing and rationality in the National Health Service : the persistence of waiting lists

This book offers an analysis of the ways in which current means of rationing health care in Britain produce the least desirable outcome: The restriction of access to some of the most cost effective treatments. The problems of gaining access to non-urgent surgical treatments have beset the NHS from its beginning, and the existence of waiting lists is assumed to be the inevitable feature of the overwhelming demand for healthcare. Frankel and West's book examines the necessity of such waiting lists and considers the system which perpetuates them in its wider historical and political context. Front Matter....Pages i-viii The Origins of Waiting Lists....Pages 1-14 Waiting Lists and Health Policy....Pages 15-41 Joining the Queue: Demand and Decision-making....Pages 42-62 Opening the Gate: Referrals from Primary to Secondary Care....Pages 63-79 Entering the Lobby: Access to Outpatient Assessment....Pages 80-95 And So to Bed: Access to Inpatient Services....Pages 96-114 What is to be Done?....Pages 115-131 Back Matter....Pages 132-157 The Origins of waiting lists / Stephen Frankel Waiting lists and health policy / John Cullis Joining the queue: demand and decision making / Robert West Opening the gate: referrals from primary to secondary care / Stephen Farrow and David Jewell Entering the lobby: access to outpatient assessment / Stephen Frankel and Margaret Robbins And so to bed: access to inpatient services What is to be done? / Stephen Frankel and Robert West. Offers an analysis of the ways in which current means of rationing health care in Britain produces the least desirable outcome - the restriction of access to cost-effective treatments. This book examines the necessity of waiting lists and considers the system which perpetuates them.