ArticleBMJ open2018
Retrospective analysis of the national impact of industrial action by English junior doctors in 2016.
Article in BMJ open, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The impact of health care strikes on patient mortality: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.Health services research · 2022Pooled it
- The weekend effect: does hospital mortality differ by day of the week? A systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC health services research · 2018Pooled it
- Resident Physician Walkout and High-Incidence Cancer Operation Volumes in South Korea.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Evaluating the impact of NHS strikes on patient flow through emergency departments.Emergency medicine journal : EMJ · 2026Article
- Impact of Residents' Mass Resignation in Cardiovascular Surgery: A System Sustainability Perspective.Interdisciplinary cardiovascular and thoracic surgery · 2026Article
- Article
- Impact of the South Korean government's medical school expansion announcement on pediatric emergency department visits.BMC emergency medicine · 2025Observational
- Impact of the junior doctors' industrial action on the emergency eye department in a large tertiary ophthalmic hospital: the Manchester experience.International ophthalmology · 2023Article
- Does the weekend effect exist for acute type A aortic dissection?-a retrospective case-control study.Journal of thoracic disease · 2023Article
- Contract doctors' strike in Malaysia: A content analysis of the perception of medical fraternity and stakeholders on Facebook.PloS one · 2023Article
- Impact of an emergency department resident strike during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Daegu, South Korea: a retrospective cross-sectional study.Journal of Yeungnam medical science · 2022Article
- The impact of strike action by Ghana registered nurses and midwives on the access to and utilization of healthcare services.PloS one · 2022Article
- Demand satisfied by modern contraceptive among married women of reproductive age in Kenya.PloS one · 2021Article
- The impact of the nurses', doctors' and clinical officer strikes on mortality in four health facilities in Kenya.BMC health services research · 2020Article
- A retrospective impact analysis of the WannaCry cyberattack on the NHS.NPJ digital medicine · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo examine the impacts of the four episodes of industrial action by English junior doctors in early 2016.
designDescriptive retrospective study of admitted patient care, accident and emergency (A&E) and outpatient activity in English hospitals.
settingAll hospitals across England.
participantsAll patients who attended A&E or outpatient appointments or those who were admitted to hospital during the 3-week period surrounding each of the four strikes (12 January, 10 February, 9-10 March and 26-27 April, excluding weekends).
main outcome measuresRaw numbers and percentage changes of outpatient appointments and cancellations, A&E visits, admitted patients and all inhospital mortality on strike days compared with patient activity on the same weekday in the weeks before and after the strikes.
resultsThere were 3.4 million admissions, 27 million outpatient appointments and 3.4 million A&E attendances over the four 3-week periods analysed. Across the four strikes, there were 31 651 fewer admissions (-9.1%), 23 895 fewer A&E attendances (-6.8%) and 173 462 fewer outpatient appointments (-6.0%) than expected. Additionally, 101 109 more outpatient appointments were cancelled by hospitals than expected (+52%). The 26-27 April strike, where emergency services were also affected, showed the largest impacts on regular service. Mortality did not measurably increase on strike days. Regional analysis showed that services in the Yorkshire and the Humber region were disproportionately more affected by the industrial action.
conclusionsIndustrial action by junior doctors during early 2016 caused a significant impact on the provision of healthcare provided by English hospitals. We also observed regional variations in how these strikes affected providers.
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