title: Setting priorities in the south west of Western Australia: where are we now?
abstract: Due to resource scarcity, health care decision makers must make choices about what services to fund. In exploring the potential for developing a formal approach to priority setting in the South West Area Health Service (SWAHS) in Western Australia, we carried out a qualitative survey of senior decision makers. Respondents indicated that resources were primarily allocated on the basis of historical patterns. Suggested improvements for priority setting include development of a transparent approach to priority setting, better intra-organisational communication, public input in the form of identifying social determinants of health, and having an organisational 'credible commitment' in planning processes.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Healthcare Innovation and Improvement, BC Research Institute for Women's and Children's Health, Vancouver, Canada. cmitton@cw.bc.ca
authors.forename: Craig
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mitton
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Prout
mesh_terms: D003659:Decision Making, Organizational; D015276:Health Care Rationing; D006292:Health Priorities; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D012040:Regional Health Planning; D014904:Western Australia