Downloads
![Image representing the file: WP201521.pdf](/sites/default/files/output_url_files/WP201521.pdf_0.jpg)
WP201521.pdf
PDF | 792.52 KB
Health spending per capita in England has more than doubled since 1997, yet relatively little is known about how that spending is distributed across the population. This paper uses administrative National Health Service (NHS) hospital records to examine key features of public hospital spending in England. We describe how costs vary across the lifecycle, and the concentration of spending among people and over time. We find that costs per person start to increase after age 50 and escalate after age 70. Spending is highly concentrated in a small section of the population: with 32% of all hospital spending accounted for by 1% of the general population, and 18% of spending by 1% of all patients. There is persistence in spending over time with patients with high spending more likely to have spending in subsequent years, and those with zero expenditures more likely to remain out of hospital.
Authors
![Marcos Vera Hernandez](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2022-06/Marcos_Vera_Hernandez.jpg?itok=TC0EwY1c)
Research Fellow University College London
Marcos is a Research Fellow at IFS, an Affiliate at the Rural Education Action Program and a Professor of Economics at the University College London.
![Elaine Kelly](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2022-06/Elaine_Kelly.jpg?itok=-Eh3j1IC)
Senior Research Economist
Elaine works in the Public Finance and Pensions sector and she joined the IFS in 2009 and became a member of the research staff in 2011.
![George Stoye](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2024-02/George%20Stoye%20Website.jpg?itok=FSkUgihr)
Associate Director
I completed a PhD at UCL in 2020. My work examines the drivers of variation in the quantity and quality of healthcare provided to different patients.
Working Paper details
- DOI
- 10.1920/wp.ifs.2015.1521
- Publisher
- Institute for Fiscal Studies
Suggested citation
E, Kelly and G, Stoye and M, Vera-Hernandez. (2015). Public hospital spending in England: evidence from National Health Service administrative records. London: Institute for Fiscal Studies. Available at: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/public-hospital-spending-england-evidence-national-health-service-administrative (accessed: 30 June 2024).
More from IFS
Understand this issue
![Interview](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2024-06/1.jpg?itok=mjderngL)
Election Special: The big issues politicians haven't spoken about
25 June 2024
![Microphone](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2024-06/Microphone.jpg?itok=soM7Wvbz)
Election Special: Your questions answered
27 June 2024
![Ariel view of an English town](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2024-06/english%20town%20feature.jpg?itok=ri4Ol6m1)
Cuts to council services likely unless cost pressures abate – even with the biggest council tax increases for 20 years
21 June 2024
Policy analysis
![Ambulance and police car](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2024-06/Ambulance-and-police-car.jpg?itok=RMgHb2lX)
How should we interpret parties’ public spending pledges this election?
23 June 2024
![Ambulance and police car](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2024-06/Ambulance-and-police-car.jpg?itok=RMgHb2lX)
Main parties’ manifestos tell us little about the funding individual public services would actually receive
23 June 2024
![Welsh town with mountains behind](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2024-06/Welsh-town-feature.jpg?itok=5axb5wZn)
How would the parties’ tax and spending plans affect Scotland and Wales?
28 June 2024
Academic research
![Working Paper Cover](/sites/default/files/styles/portrait/public/2024-05/WP202421-The-role-of-hospital-networks-in-individual-mortality_Page_01.jpg?itok=BudO5o_w)
The role of hospital networks in individual mortality
13 May 2024
![conference](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2024-03/conference.jpg?itok=B8QPMn6c)
6th World Bank/IFS/ODI Public Finance Conference | Driving Progress: Public Finance and Structural Transformation
![Working Paper Cover](/sites/default/files/styles/portrait/public/2024-05/WP202419-Forced-displacement-mental-health-and-child-development-evidence-from-the-rohingya-refugees_Page_01.jpg?itok=ZnUTIDEq)
Forced displacement, mental health, and child development: Evidence from Rohingya refugees
10 May 2024