ABSTRACT
It might seem that CGs need have nothing to do with resources or resource allocation. Notionally, at least, they might merely be indicators of the clinical characteristics of one or more clinical services. Many people, perhaps, wish that this would remain so. Nevertheless, scarce resources and their implications are cited frequently in discussions about CGs.1 It has been suggested that increasing pressures to use up more resources for health care services, or else the wish to respond to those pressures, helps to explain attempts to devise, implement and respond to guidelines.
