Weekend specialist intensity and admission mortality in acute hospital trusts in England: a cross-sectional study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Increased mortality rates associated with weekend hospital admission (the so-called weekend effect) have been attributed to suboptimum staffing levels of specialist consultants. However, evidence for a causal association is elusive, and the magnitude of the weekend specialist deficit remains unquantified. This uncertainty could hamper efforts by national health systems to introduce 7 day health services. We aimed to examine preliminary associations between specialist intensity and weekend admission mortality across the English National Health Service.

Methods

Eligible hospital trusts were those in England receiving unselected emergency admissions. On Sunday June 15 and Wednesday June 18, 2014, we undertook a point prevalence survey of hospital specialists (consult

SUBMITTER: Aldridge C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4945602 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature