Following the US experience, activity-based funding has become the most common mechanism for reimbursing hospitals in Europe. Focusing on five European countries (England, Finland, France, Germany and Ireland), this paper reviews the motivation for introducing activity-based funding, together...

As the Irish health system embarks upon its first major structural reorganisation in over 30 years, developments within this system over the past two decades are assessed. Real cuts in health expenditure achieved in the 1980s contrast sharply with the unprecedented increase in resources devoted...

The Macroeconomic Context and Appropriate Fiscal Stance for Budget 2002: The changing macroeconomic background in which Budget 2002 must be framed is set out. The appropriate stance for budgetary policy as the economy moves towards lower growth rates are assessed including consideration of the...

The monograph Critique of "Shaping a Healthier Future": A Strategy for Effective Healthcare in the 1990s evaluated the previous national health strategy as preparation for the new version which the Government was preparing. It reviewed the strategy development process and concluded that it was...