Improving access to services for psychotic patients: does implementing a waiting time target make a difference

Anika Kreutzberg () and Rowena Jacobs
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Anika Kreutzberg: Technical University of Berlin
Rowena Jacobs: University of York, Alcuin College

The European Journal of Health Economics, 2020, vol. 21, issue 5, No 4, 703-716

Abstract: Abstract Objective In April 2015, the English National Health Service started implementing the first waiting time targets in mental health care. This study aims to investigate the effect of the 14-day waiting time target for early intervention in psychosis (EIP) services after the first six months of its implementation. Study design We analyse a cohort of first-episode psychosis patients from the English administrative Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Dataset 2011 to 2015. We compare patients being treated by EIP services (treatment) with those receiving care from standard community mental health services (control). We combine non-parametric matching with a difference-in-difference approach to account for observed and unobserved group differences. We analyse the probability of waiting below target and look at different percentiles of the waiting time distribution. Results EIP patients had an 11.6–18.4 percentage point higher chance of waiting below target post-policy compared to standard care patients. However, post-policy trends at different percentiles of the waiting time distribution were not different between groups. Conclusions Mental health providers seem to respond to waiting time targets in a similar way as physical health providers. The increased proportion waiting below target did not, however, result in an overall improvement across the waiting time distribution.

Keywords: Waiting time targets; Mental health; Early intervention in psychosis; Difference-in-difference analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C31 D04 I11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1007/s10198-020-01165-0

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