HC Deb 16 November 1983 vol 48 cc489-90W
Dr. Roger Thomas

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if, in view of the reduced money available for health provision in the current financial year and allowing for unavoidable demographic changes, he will arrange for the use by hospital consultant clinicians of medical resources to be subject to close review to assess the cost-effectiveness of their current clinical practice.

Mr. Kenneth Clarke

More cost-effectiveness in the use of resources is a constant challenge to all those involved in health care, including clinicians. Many of the improvements in efficiency in recent years have sprung directly from clinicians making more intensive use of resources. The report of the NHS management inquiry has identified the need for clinicians to be more closely involved in the management of resources, in particular through the development of systems of management of budgets. This approach, now being demonstrated in four health districts, should provide a better framework within which clinicians can look at the cost-effectiveness of their practices.

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