Payment by Results

What does it mean for mental health?

Payment by Results is a new system to pay for NHS services using a national tariff for each procedure carried out. Most acute hospital care will be paid for through it from April 2005.

Mental health (and some other) services will initially be exempt, but the Government plans to apply the new system to the whole of the NHS by 2008.

This policy paper shows that a workable system of Payment by Results in mental health services is some way off. A major programme of work is needed to ensure the potential benefits of Payment by Results in mental health services outweigh the risks.