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The effects of doctor strikes on patient outcomes: Evidence from the English NHS

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  • Stoye, George
  • Warner, Max

Abstract

Doctor strikes cause major disruption for hospitals and patients. Past attempts to estimate impacts on patients suffer from selection issues due to changing patient composition during strikes. We address these issues by exploiting differential hospital exposure to a 2016 ‘junior’ doctor strike in England to estimate the impact of doctor strikes on patient outcomes. Using the pre-strike junior-senior doctor ratio to measure exposure, we show increased strike exposure led to larger reductions in elective volumes, but did not affect volumes, average mortality or readmission rates for emergency patients. However, greater exposure to the strike did lead to higher readmission rates for black emergency patients. This suggests that while hospitals managed to mitigate many of the negative effects of the strikes, disruptions from the strikes still had negative consequences for some minority groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Stoye, George & Warner, Max, 2023. "The effects of doctor strikes on patient outcomes: Evidence from the English NHS," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 689-707.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:212:y:2023:i:c:p:689-707
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2023.06.011
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Doctor strikes; Medical strikes; Junior doctors; Healthcare inequalities;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • J52 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Dispute Resolution: Strikes, Arbitration, and Mediation

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