Abstract
OBJECTIVES--To explore the assumptions underlying consumers' responses to questions of resource priorities in the NHS. DESIGN--Qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with a heterogeneous sample of 16 patients drawn from a general practice. RESULTS--Interviewees were not persuaded that they had a legitimate role to play in the prioritisation of services. They supported the principle of equity and were reluctant to use their own personal needs as a basis for resource allocation; instead they argued from what they perceived to be the needs of others. CONCLUSIONS--Paradoxically, surveys of consumers' views on health care priorities probably do not elicit the personal ideas of respondents but tap into a more general ideological position closer to an earlier collectivist notion of health care.
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Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
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