Originally published in 1956, as number 17 in the Occasional Papers of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research series, this book presents an investigation into the cost of the National Health Service. Using the technique of ‘social accounting’, the text was written ‘to trace for the National Health Service as a whole in England and Wales, and for each of its main branches, the changes in factor cost and in the amount of resources absorbed since the Service was established’. Appendices are included and numerous tables are incorporated throughout. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in socio-economic history and the development of the National Health Service.