Background Cancelled operations can potentially impact both health and patient experience through their effect on waiting times. However, identifying causal relationships is challenging. One possible solution is to consider 'exogenous shocks' to the system as a type of natural experiment to...

The health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic highlights, more than ever, the necessity of scientific research to inform policy action. During such a crisis it is vital that any measure taken by policy makers mitigates the consequences on health without causing long-lasting social and...