David Buck from the King’s Fund tells HSJ that how resources are allocated will increasingly frame the debate about the healthcare system as funding constraints really begin to bite

Commissioners’ overall priorities for health spend have been driven by other national policies and targets, not by the objectives that underpin the formula for resource allocation in England. Transparency and clarity will be critical if NHS England is to convince clinical commissioning groups, let alone local authorities and local populations, that its allocations are fair.

David Buck, senior fellow, public health and inequalities, at the King’s Fund talks about how we decide where the money should go for different parts of the NHS, and now local government, in light of the health reforms and its financial implications for the NHS.

Resource allocation: a forgotten element of health policy