Table 1 Base case unit costs in 2004 pounds sterling.
| Resource item | Unit cost (£)† | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Primary health care | ||
| GP (per surgery consultation lasting 9.36 minutes) | 21 | PSSRU12 |
| Practice nurse/district nurse (per consultation) | 9 | PSSRU |
| Secondary health care | ||
| A&E (per visit) | 83 | PSSRU |
| Outpatients first visit (geriatric medicine) | 222 | DH13 |
| Outpatients follow up visit (geriatric medicine) | 125 | DH |
| Cost per bed day for elderly patients | 166 | PSSRU |
| Cataract operation | 672 | DH |
| Lower limb fractures (day case) | 777 | DH |
| Upper limb fractures (day case) | 858 | DH |
| Personal social services | ||
| Local authority home care worker (per visit) | 12 | PSSRU |
| Day centre visits (per visit) | 29 | PSSRU |
| Short term residential care (per day) | 56 | PSSRU |
| Long term residential care (per day) | 53 | PSSRU |
| Short term nursing home (per day) | 73 | PSSRU |
| Long term nursing home (per day) | 75 | PSSRU |
| Meals on wheels (per meal) | Wiltshire foods | |
| Special equipment (per item) (items ranged from long handled sponge to electric buggy) | 34 to 499 | Varied (available from author) |
| Patient and carer | ||
| Independently provided home care (per visit) | 10 | PSSRU |
| Average net weekly earnings (all ages, excluding overtime and minus 35% for income tax, NI, and pension) | 321 | NES†14 |
†New Earnings Survey 2003, inflated to 2004 wage rates using earnings inflation rate of 0.045.
A&E, accident and emergency department; DH, Department of Health; GP, general practitioner; NI, national insurance; PSSRU, Personal Social Services Research Unit.