Britain could still have a comprehensive NHS without rationing

Pressure on NHS finances drives new wave of postcode rationing.

An investigation by The BMJ has shown stark local variation in the number of exceptional funding requests that doctors in England are having to make on behalf of their patients, and the types of treatment being restricted. The analysis shows that the overall number of individual funding requests (IFRs) received by clinical commissioning groups in England increased by 47% in the past four years ...

The role of NICE technology appraisal in NHS rationing.

OBJECTIVE This article examines the role of National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal in detail, focussing on the process itself and the methods used to establish cost-effective practices for the National Health Service (NHS). AREAS OF AGREEMENT Approaches to identifying both effective and cost-effective practices have become central to rationing decisio...

Rationing Health Care in Britain and the United States

Rationing is a ―dirty word,‖1 ―a code word for immoral, inappropriate, or greedy,‖2 and ―a four letter word.‖3 And not surprisingly, rationing was at the forefront of the recent debate in the United States over health care reform. Former Governor Sarah Palin‘s Facebook page allegation4 that the Democrat‘s health care reform legislation included ―death panels,‖ which would ration care for the si...

Could Morality Have

Critical reflections on psychiatry: could Thomas Szasz still have relevance in modern medical practice?

The writings of Thomas Szasz Dr Benning nicely summarises some of the major conceptual errors in the writings of the late Dr Thomas Szasz. Dr Szasz, who was one of my professors during residency, had important things to say about protecting the civil liberties of people with mental illness. However, his view of schizophrenia as a self-inflicted form of lying has done great injury to those who h...