09.03.12
Consultants urged to consider seven-day rotas
The chair of the BMA consultants’ committee has said seven-day working in hospitals could help stop patient deaths.
Figures show that patients admitted for emergency treatment at weekends are almost 10% more likely to die than those admitted Monday-Friday. Less experienced doctors make up a greater proportion of staff at the weekends.
Dr Mark Porter said consultants need to make themselves available if needed, and ministers are considering financial incentives to improve weekend services.
He told the BBC: “It will need investment by trusts, but it also needs a willingness by doctors. That is the challenge for us.
“Consultants understandably feel like they have rightly got away from working weekends.
“They will have done that earlier in their career and are wanting to spend time with patients [during the week] providing really good care.”
He added: “But there is mounting evidence of an association between higher death rates and weekend care.
“We can't prove that it is a causal link, but we cannot ignore it either.”
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