Bill New is the author of Rationing: Talk and Action in Healthcare, published by Wiley.

• Introduction and context: introduction, Bill New; The rationing agenda in the NHS, Bill New; Responses to the rationing agenda, Jo Lenaghan. Section 1 Talk: The inevitability of rationing in the NHS, Chris Heginbotham; Public opinion and rationing - a review of the evidence, Jack Kneeshaw. The rationing debate: Devising a package of health care services the NHS is responsible for - for, Bill New; against, Rudolph Kelin; Maximising the health of the whole community - for, A.J. Culyer; against, John Harris; Rationing health care by age - for, Alan Williams; against, J. Grimley Evans; Central government should have a greater role in rationing decisions - for, Jo Lenaghan; against, Stephen Harrison; Rationing within the NHS should be explicit - for, Len Doyal; against, Jo Coast; Direct public and patient involvement in rationing - the possibilities for direct public involvement, Anna Coote; - the possibilities for direct patient involvement, Heather Goodare; The moral limits to public and patient involvement, Len Doyal. Section 2 Action: New Zealand priority criteria project, Hadorn, Holmes; Setting priorities - can Britain learn from Sweden? McKee, Figueras; Setting priorities - is there a role for citizen's juries? Lenaghan et al; The Asbury draft policy on ethical use of resources, Crisp et al; Responses to Asbury proposal, Thomasma et al; A purchaser experience of managing new, expensive drugs - interferon beta, Rous et al; How can hospitals ration drugs? Bochner et al; responses to Boshner et al.