Evidencing cost efficiencies in specialist palliative care.

In this difficult economic climate there is an increasing need in health care not only to measure improvements in quality of care but also to evidence cost efficiencies in services. Although specialist palliative care (SPC) has historically been viewed as synonymous with provision of quality care for patients, this seems unlikely to be viewed in the future as an inherent guarantee of optimum efficiency. It looks as though the SPC fraternity is going to have to quantify its value for money.