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Estimating the direct costs of bowel cancer services provided by the National Health Service in England

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 October 2010

Matthew W. Bending
Affiliation:
University of York
Paul Trueman
Affiliation:
Brunel University
Karin V. Lowson
Affiliation:
University of York
Hazel Pilgrim
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield
Paul Tappenden
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield
Jim Chilcott
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield
Janine Tappenden
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield

Abstract

Objectives: Bowel cancer is the second most common cancer in England and Wales, accounting for approximately 13,000 deaths per year. Economic evaluations and national guidance have been produced for individual treatments for bowel cancer. However, it has been suggested that Primary Care Trusts develop program budgeting or equivalent methodology demonstrating a whole system approach to investment and disinvestment. The objective of this study was to provide a baseline framework for considering a whole system approach to estimate the direct costs of bowel cancer services provided by the National Health Service (NHS) in England.

Methods: A treatment pathway, developed in 2005, was used to construct a service pathway model to estimate the direct cost of bowel cancer services in England.

Results: The service pathway model estimated the direct cost of bowel cancer services to the NHS to be in excess of £1 billion in 2005. Thirty-five percent of the cost is attributable to the screening and testing of patients with suspected bowel cancer, subsequently diagnosed as cancer-free.

Conclusions: This study is believed to be the most comprehensive attempt to identify the direct cost of managing bowel cancer services in England. The approach adopted could be useful to assist local decision makers in identifying those aspects of the pathway that are most uncertain in terms of their cost-effectiveness and as a basis to explore the implications of re-allocated resources. Research recommendations include the need for detailed costs on surgical procedures, high-risk patients and the utilization of the methods used in this study across other cancers.

Type
ASSESSMENTS
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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