Economic appraisal of health technology in the United Kingdom

In this paper we assess the current state of the art of economic appraisal of health technologies in the United Kingdom. The paper is organised along the lines suggested in the Workshop proposal. Although the main interest of the Workshop is in 'high' technology, such as imaging techniques and advanced therapeutic interventions, we have included (in Appendix I) details of economic appraisals of other health care innovations, such as community care options for the elderly and mentally handicapped. We believe that these appraisals both give interest in high technology a sense of perspective and raise methodological issues that are relevant in the evaluation of advanced medical procedures. We have not included a discussion of a major case study in economic evaluation of health technology in the UK. The most appropriate example would be the recently completed appraisal of heart transplants, comissioned by the Department of Health and Social Seciruty (DHSS). This is to be discussed in another paper presented at the workshop (Buxton, 1985).