Government needs and public expectations

The priorities for research which emerge from looking at the health needs of patients collectively are examined here. Priorities, however imperfect, are discernible when the five indices of where the main burdens on the health services lie are examined; those indices are inpatient days, outpatient referrals, general practitioner consultations, sickness-benefit days, and loss of life expectancy. Housing, employment, nutrition, etc., are equally relevant to health and to the question of priorities in medical research. It is important in dealing with government needs and public expectations to be clear what health and social services cannot do and what people must do for themselves.