What is the opportunity cost? This is a question I often ask our trainees. They are intelligent people, and make some educated guesses. But they are always wrong. The opportunity cost is a simple concept: if we did not spend the money on A, we could spend it on B instead. For example, the cost of a day in hospital is high, so would this money be better spent providing social care? The obvious answer is yes, but no one seems capable of making it happen.
NHS prescribing costs are chasing £20 billion, an opportunity cost of truly biblical …