And hot on the heels of cost-cutting palliative care from the US we have – pricing.

Another new Department of Health publication, covering stuff that may be a bit distant to many palliative care buffs. This is about currency and pricing options for local community services. But try reading it, because it’s going to come to you; there’s quite a lot of material in it on end-of-life care, which is treated as one of the major local services (although little to do with palliative care methinks – see my recent post on this topic).

What this is about is commissioners (I’m having a commissioning policy day today) deciding what price they’re willing to pay for a service that they’re buying. It would be well-worthwhile for any hospice to understand and get involved with how they’re going to do that.

Department of Health (2009) Transforming Community Services: Currency and Pricing Options for Community Services. London: DH.

See it at: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_093008