Productivity of the English National Health Service: 2015/16 update

Posted on 2 April 2018

CHE's latest Research Paper 152 written by Adriana Castelli, Martin Chalkley and Idaira Rodriguez Santana

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This research paper updates CHE’s time series of National Health Service (NHS) productivity growth for the period 2014/15 to 2015/16 and reports trends in outputs, inputs and productivity since 2004/05.

The research examines the amount of NHS output produced against the inputs it used; this shows the growth in productivity. NHS output includes all the activities carried out for NHS patients wherever they are treated in England (with an adjustment for the quality of care), whilst inputs include the number of doctors, nurses and support staff providing care, the equipment and clinical supplies used, and the facilities of hospitals and other premises where care is provided.

Over the last eleven years NHS productivity has increased by 13.49% or an average of 1.17% per annum. However, since 2012/13 productivity has been continuously decreasing, with 0.04% growth between 2014/15 and 2015/16.

Full Report: CHE Research Paper 152 (PDF , 3,099kb)

Link to University of York article

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