Department of Health

Website of the Department of Health

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NHS costing

Detailed guide to costing for NHS providers and commissioners

Patient-level information and costing systems (PLICS)

The NHS, with encouragement from DH, is implementing patient level information and costing systems (PLICS). The broad benefits of patient-level information costing systems are:

  • service-level economics reporting
  • an understanding of the variations and their causes within services
  • a major improvement in clinical ownership of resource decisions
  • provision of information to enable improved HRG classification and
  • improved funding policy and evidence-based analysis in discussions with commissioners.

Data collection

Reference costs 2007/08 collection

Published: 07/02/2008

This document outlines the mandatory requirements for the 2007/08 reference costs collection. It updates and supersedes previous costing guidance. It should be read in conjunction with the latest version of the NHS costing manual.

NHS reference costs 2007/08: additional guidance

Published: 20/05/2008

This area of the site allows you to access additional guidance documents that support the main guidance documents (Reference Costs Collection guidance and Costing Manual) published in February 2008. For example: Frequently Asked Questions; Known Areas of Difficulty; and 2007/08 Spell Guidance. Please note deadline for returns for this process to the Department of Health is 30th June 2008.

NHS costing manual 2007/08

Published: 07/02/2008

This manual sets out the principles and practice of costing to be applied in the NHS. It is not just designed to support the production of the National Schedule of Reference Costs and through this, the national tariff, but should also be used in developing and monitoring service and financial frameworks, as well as developments in and the monitoring and implementation of National Service Frameworks.

2006/07

Archive and supporting material

Data publications

NHS reference costs 2006-07

Published: 11/03/2008 11:57

The documents below give details on how and on what over £41 billion of NHS expenditure was used in the 2006/07 financial year. The 2006/07 reference costs / reference costs index publication is the richest source of financial data on the NHS ever produced.

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