Every year since 1992, a single reference book has told the UK government and researchers exactly what it costs to provide a hospital bed, a home care visit, or a mental health appointment. Without reliable cost data, policymakers cannot tell whether a new treatment or service is worth the money. This project updates and expands the *Unit Costs of Health and Social Care* volumes, which compile the most current, nationally applicable price tags for more than 130 health and social care services in England. The team also develops methods for estimating costs in new areas, such as public health interventions and stroke care pathways. If this work succeeds, economic evaluations will remain grounded in transparent, up-to-date figures. Between 2003 and 2008, 56% of all English-language cost-effectiveness studies cited these volumes. The Treasury, NICE, the National Audit Office, and local care organisations already use them to assess policy options and benchmark prices. Continued updates mean that decisions about which treatments to fund, which services to expand, and which reforms to pursue will rest on solid evidence rather than guesswork.
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Background The Unit Costs of Health and Social Care has been produced every year since 1992. The volumes bring together information from a variety of sources to estimate the most up-to-date nationally-applicable unit costs for a wide range of health and social care services in England. Based in economic theory, the volumes present the unit costs and the estimation methods used, and provide references for data sources and other cost-related research, as well as short articles and commentaries. The current volume* provides detailed information on more than 130 service types. Each year the volume is circulated to around 200 people, is fully downloaded on average 680 times a month throughout the year, and there are further partial downloads. * available at /www.pssru.ac.uk/uc/uc2010contents.htm Aims A key element of policy evaluation is identifying cost implications. Unit costs play a fundamental role in this process, both directly and indirectly, by feeding into cost-effectiveness evaluations.The annual Unit Costs of Health and Social Care volumes are used extensively by the DH and researchers, increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the policy evaluation process by providing a ready reference point, with transparent estimates and assumptions, drawing on and contributing to the evidence base. The aims of the work are: to ensure this key information on high-quality cost estimation continues to be easily available; and to continue to improve the quality and breadth of available unit costs through methodological development and synthesis of existing evidence. Plan of investigation We plan to continue to update and improve unit cost estimates for a wide variety of services, drawing on a range of sources. Also, we will estimate unit costs for services and supports so far unexplored, and identify, develop and disseminate good cost estimation practice in new areas, such as public health and for new technologies. We also intend to expand our current focus to include costs for some new treatment/care processes and key events (for example, stroke). We will also explore the most useful ways to present unit and event costs to policy makers. Potential Impact A search on the Web of Science database showed that 56% of all economic evaluations or cost-effectiveness studies published in English journals between 2003 and 2008 have cited the Unit Costs of Health and Social Care reports. They have also been: cited by the Treasury and used as part of policy development and in advising ministers on policy options; recommended in NICE guidelines as a source of cost data; used by Pharmaceutical Medicine and Research, the Royal Society of Medicine, the National Audit Office, the Office for Health Economics, the Office for Fair Trading and the Home Office and local health and social care organisations to help understand the cost implications of policy options and choices, and have recently been used to benchmark day care prices by mental health charities.
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