ABSTRACT
The management of the rationing problem was one of the arrangements which fell victim to the changes. One of the earliest calls for government to make explicit rationing decisions instead of looking to doctors to take them was from the British Medical Association at its 1992 conference. The Institute for Public Policy Research has been one of the more active policy think-tanks when it comes to putting forward recommendations for making health-care rationing more rational. Some health authorities have sought to 'break the mould' by adopting innovative approaches to priority-setting/rationing. Health economists are concerned not merely with the effectiveness of treatments but with their cost-effectiveness. The quality adjusted life year approach attempts to evaluate healthcare outcomes according to a generic scale. The drive towards an evidence-based health service began with the arrival of the National Health Service Research and Development strategy in 1991.
