More patients than usual are admitted to hospital Emergency Departments during doctors' strikes say researchers, who examined changes to patient flows at an NHS Trust in the north-west of England.
There have been several NHS strikes since December 2022, resulting in the prioritisation of emergency care and claims that this results in Emergency Departments running "better than usual".
To find out whether this was the case, researchers analysed a total of 44,229 admissions at two Emergency Departments - ED1 and ED2 - at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. ED1 is a 24-hour, full-service department with a major trauma service while ED2 is an adults-only minor injuries unit with limited opening hours.
The study, led by Professor Jo Knight from Lancaster Medical School with Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Sheffield, examined the time between patient arrival at both ED1 and ED2 and their subsequent admission between January 2022 and April 2024.
During this period, there were 61 separate strike days including 40 by junior doctors, 11 by nursing staff, ten by consultants and seven by ambulance staff. Junior doctor and consultant strikes also coincided on four days.
The data analysis revealed differences in the rate of patient admissions into hospital even though the number of attendances, the proportions of patients admitted and the time to see a clinician did not differ between strike and non-strike days.
Researchers found that:
· Patients were admitted into ED1 more quickly on both the junior doctor and consultant strike days compared with non-strike days
· Patients were admitted into ED2 more quickly only when consultants were striking
NHS strikes have resulted in the cancellation of around one million elective appointments between 2022 and 2024, and researchers say these findings suggest that the improved patient flow observed on strike days could be driven by the additional inpatient capacity created through the postponement of elective care.
Professor Knight said: "This study found improved flow through the ED during certain strike days, which we infer is largely due to improved inpatient capacity. This suggests that during non-strike periods, patient flow through NHS EDs can be improved by expanding capacity and efficiently discharging medically fit patients."
