- The costs of publicly funded health services are pushing at the limits of affordability. This is a challenge shared by all European regional health systems. In this financial climate, health organisations need to be able to demonstrate the added value of investment and expenditure decisions.
- Within regions, spending by health services on staff, goods & services, buildings, IT and equipment ranges from 6 to 9% of regional GDP. This is a significant level of economic activity. But it is not optimised to positively contribute to regional development agendas. Nor is it used to maximise the population health benefit of health care expenditure.
- Capital investment in refurbishing or building new health care infrastructure and IT are one way of achieving these contributions. They should: help create dynamic local businesses that are competitive in wider markets; boost local employment; widen the skills base; improve workplace & population health; and strengthen social cohesion. These are the kinds of added value that we should expect from public organisations spending public money.
