Involving the public in rationing decisions. The experience of citizens juries.

There is growing interest in involving the public in decisions about rationing health care. But who are the public, why should they be involved and how might this be achieved? This paper reviews an innovative new technique for involving the public in healthcare decisions, called citizens' juries. Despite some limitations, the experience of a number of pilots suggest that given enough time and information, the public is willing and able to engage in debates about the allocation of finite resources for health care. As there are no right or wrong answers in health care choices, it is vital that the decision making process has legitimacy, and that the public has an opportunity to be involved.