Setting priorities in health: A study of English primary care trusts

The Nuffield Trust, in partnership with the Health Services Management Centre (HSMC), University of Birmingham, carried out a research study involving a national survey and five detailed case studies to explore how primary care trusts (PCTs) make decisions about funding priorities.

This presentation of key slides from the research illustrates, among other things, the role of priority setting within the wider commissioning cycle; the level of involvement that different stakeholder groups have in the decision-making processes; and the aspects of these processes which are made explicit to the general public.

A report of the full findings of this study: Setting priorities in health: A study of English primary care trusts, by Suzanne Robinson, Helen Dickinson, Iestyn Williams, Tim Freeman, Benedict Rumbold and Katie Spence of HSMC and Nuffield Trust was published in September 2011.  An accompanying research summary: Setting priorities in health: The challenge for clinical commissioning, by Nuffield Trust Head of Policy Dr Judith Smith was also published at this time and considers the implications of the findings for the coming generation of clinical commissioners.

This study forms part of the Nuffield Trust’s wider research project: The quest for efficiency in the English NHS, a comprehensive programme of work that aims to help the NHS respond to the financial challenges ahead by examining how health services can improve productivity and deliver more for less.