ABSTRACT
Priority setting in the United Kingdom operates within the framework of a comprehensive National Health Service (NHS) open to everyone. All forms of health services are provided, yet the NHS consumes only 6" of the gross national product, one of the lowest rates in the developed world. Generally, funds were allocated on an historical basis, with most of the money going into the acute sector. In 1991, the NHS was reorganized so that purchasing duties were separated from providing duties and an internal market created. Primary care has traditionally been in the hands of separate authorities, but it is now the responsibility of commissioning agencies that cover the whole spectrum of healthcare. Under the internal market system, health authorities are expected to take a wider view of purchasing and to look in other directions. They have been urged to seek the public's views and also to take account of the economic benefits, or cost-effectiveness, of treatments.
