We present a simple dynamic model of the demand and supply for elective surgery in the NHS and test it using a panel of quartely data for 123 English health authorities from the second quarter of 1987 to the first quarter of 1993. We find that supply is increasing in measures of the previous...

The English National Health Service (NHS) was established in 1948, and has therefore yielded some long time series data on health system performance. Waiting time for inpatient care have been a persistent policy concern since the creation of the NHS. After developing a simple theoretical...