A new report by research company Dr Foster has revealed that patients are more likely to die in hospital if they need medical attention at the weekend. The shocking findings revealed a 10% rise in weekend deaths compared to weekdays and concluded that some deaths could have been avoided if staffing and diagnostic support was more readily available.

Research reveals death rates at NHS hospitals are 10% higher at weekends. Picture Credit: BBC

Speaking to the BBC about the weekend mortality rates, Roger Taylor, director of research at the group, said: “It’s about having the more experienced staff in the hospital, looking after patients out of normal working hours. The junior doctors, they’re always around, but they’re not the ones making a difference here.”

Overall, 8.1% of those admitted at weekends died compared with 7.4% during the week and while the report acknowledged that people who were at the end of life were more likely to be admitted to hospital at the weekend, it did conclude that weekend treatment was “risky”.

Dr Foster also looked into the general standard of healthcare as part of it’s yearly Hospital Guide and found that 42 of the 147 hospital trusts had mortality rates higher than expected. A lack of diagnostic support was cited as one of the main reasons with medical negligence potentially involved in some deaths

In response to the findings, Prof Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS medical director, said: “Mortality rates in the NHS are going down, but hospitals with high rates and poor outcomes in the evenings and at weekends must investigate. I will be asking the NHS medical directors to look closely at weekend services to ensure patients admitted at weekends receive the same standards of care as those during the week, I am confident the NHS is well placed to address these issues.”