Funding pressures in the NHS: an ethical response

Summary

This background paper provides an overview of different forms of response to funding pressures in the NHS, and seeks to identify those aspects where specifically ethical (as opposed to organisational and managerial) challenges may arise. Given the different health systems within the four countries of the UK, for the sake of brevity this paper focuses primarily on the legal position and policy initiatives within England. Similar issues, however, are likely to arise across the UK, and indeed within any other publicly-funded health system.

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