ABSTRACT
Priority setting is developing slowly but is set to proceed by the way of exclusions and smaller resource allocations to services of lower priority. Health care is under local authority control and elected councillors determine how priorities are decided and money is spent. Priority setting in Sweden began with efforts to reduce long waiting lists. Large ones are better able than small ones to absorb the cost of expensive cases, for example a case of lower priority but one that the doctors involved believe merits exceptional treatment. Although priority setting methods vary by locality, the main aim has been to provide services more efficiently, abolish waiting lists for critical procedures and distribute resources more fairly. Stockholm is pursuing a 'bite-size chunk' approach, confining itself to specific conditions of illness and not attempting to set priorities across the whole of health care.
