title: NHS and charitable funding for children and young people with cancer in England and Wales.
abstract: In 2005 the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence Guidance on Cancer Services: Improving Outcomes in Children and Young People with Cancer, identified the need to quantify the substantial contribution made by charities to NHS provision to this group of patients. This article quantifies the contribution in England and Wales. It identifies 51 charities established specifically to assist this patient group, estimates that 340 charities made some financial contribution and 28 organizations administered charitable funds for hospices. The financial contribution to services by charities was estimated to be between pound25 million and pound38 million in 2003, representing between one-third and a half of the total resources directed to the treatment and support of children and young people with cancer in specialist centres across England and Wales. Reliance on the substantial charitable funding of health care in England and Wales raises concerns over government responsibility, and the potential misalignment between NHS priorities and those of the charities.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Economics and Policy in Health, Bangor University, Bangor, Wales, UK. p.linck@bangor.ac.uk
authors.forename: Pat
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Linck
authors.forename: Bronwyn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tunnage
authors.forename: Dyfrig A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.forename: Rhiannon Tudor
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Edwards
mesh_terms: D002608:Charities / Q000191:economics*; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000191:economics*; D004739:England; D005378:Financial Support; D005380:Financing, Government / Q000191:economics; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006287:Health Planning Guidelines; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006302:Health Services Research; D017051:Hospice Care / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D008495:Medical Oncology / Q000191:economics; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000191:economics*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000191:economics; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013222:State Medicine / Q000191:economics*; D017749:Total Quality Management; D014852:Wales