Work begins on free online ‘value for money’ assessment tool for NHS

NHS organisations will be able to calculate the value for money of their behaviour change campaigns and interventions, thanks to a free online evaluation tool being developed by the National Social Marketing Centre (NSMC).

The groundbreaking tool will also help GP consortia and the new public health and local authority organisations achieve cost-effective interventions and monitor performance.

Work has begun on the tool, which will enable users to go beyond short-term savings to identify the wider financial impact of behaviour change projects and campaigns. There is currently no standard method for doing this, so the NSMC has formed an expert advisory group, including the National Institute for Clinical Evidence (NICE) and leading health economists, to ensure a consensus is reached.

By showing organisations which of their campaigns and behaviour change projects are working and which are not, the tool will help guide decisions on where money should be spent in order to have the best outcomes for patients and the public.

Dr Fiona Adshead, recent Director of Chronic Disease and Health Promotion at the World Health Organization and former Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England, is chairing the advisory group. Speaking at its inaugural meeting today, she said: “Health issues, like obesity and smoking, rarely have straightforward financial costs. From the time families spend on caring for loved ones to the burden placed on social services, there are many other things to consider.

She continued, “But at the moment, organisations have to carry out time-consuming and expensive evaluations to get the full picture. By taking the range of social outcomes into account, the tool will help organisations to do this simply and cheaply.”

Advisory group member and NICE director, Professor Mike Kelly, said: “Public health interventions rarely employ just one approach, and it can take time before results can be seen. This can make the value for money difficult to assess.

“There is a clear need to bring together the best measures that are able to do these interventions justice.”

NSMC director John Bromley said: “In our current austere times, we must prove to funders and taxpayers what many of us have long known: that money spent on supporting healthy behaviours can be money saved in the long-term.

“Our new tool will help the NHS and others to free up stretched resources and focus them where they’ll have the best outcome for the public. We will now be consulting with practitioners and authorities to ensure that our tool meets the highest standards.”

The tool will be available in spring 2011.