The Estimation of Costs and Effectiveness of Community — Based Family Planning Services Available to Purchase

The decision to include Family Planning (FP) services within the auspices of the NHS was made in 1973, but their first full year of operation in the community sector was not until 1976. Incentives have been given to encourage utilisation of the services (for example, the removal of price barriers to access) and service delivery (for example, the introduction of the GP fee for contraceptive service). This paper seeks to estimate the cost of FP service provision and to demonstrate a means of showing the effectiveness of these services. Empirical results presented relate to the Grampian Health Board Area for the financial year 1977/78. This Area is located in the North‐East of Scotland. The total population is approximately 450,000. Grampian is divided into three districts, North, West and South, the last containing the City of Aberdeen with a population of over 200,000. Outside of Aberdeen the area is rural with no other major centre of population. Consequently North and West Districts and those parts of South District outside of Aberdeen are fairly sparsely populated.