Preface 1 Scarcity and health care 2 Basic theory of economics: demand, supply and the market solution 3 The demand and supply of health care 4 Equity in the finance and distribution of health care 5 Health insurance 6 Financing health care 7 The UK National Health Service 8 The nursing labour market 9 Introduction to economic evaluation 10 Measuring effectiveness 11 Measuring costs 12 Measuring cost-effectiveness