Referral Hospitals

Excerpt

The appropriate allocation of resources to referral hospitals within a national health system has long been a controversial issue in health system planning in developing countries. Consensus appears to be widespread that referral hospitals consume an excessive share of health budgets and that their contribution to improving health and welfare is low relative to the expenditure on these facilities, but the literature does not indicate what percentage of budgets should ideally be allocated to referral hospitals. Presumably, except in the poorest countries, some referral facility is needed, but how much is required, and how should the proportion allocated to referral facilities vary with increasing levels of health expenditure and health system sophistication?