Don't Get Sick on Weekend

(London, England) For those Brits needing in-patient National Health Service (NHS) hospital care, the chances of surviving are substantially increased when hospital admission occurs during the work-week.

Risk of death jumps for those admitted on Saturday and Sunday.

The medical conditions resulting in the biggest number of in-hospital deaths included pneumonia, congestive heart failure, heart attack, septicaemia, acute renal failure, urinary tract infections and neck or hip fracture.

The experts, including from University College London and the Universities of Birmingham and East Anglia, wrote in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine (JRSM): "We identified a significantly higher risk of subsequent in-hospital death during the 30-day follow-up period associated with admission during the weekend (Saturday or Sunday), compared to mid-week days.

"Admission on Tuesday through Friday was associated with the lowest risk of in-hospital death, while admission on Sunday was associated with the highest risk.

"Admission on Saturday was associated with a marked increased mortality (death) risk and admission on Monday was associated with a less, but statistically significant, increased risk."

One number cited indicates that 16% more patients die when admitted on Sunday rather than Wednesday.

Frankly, the data on deaths are not surprising. Weekend staffing is customarily bare-bones so the quality of care consequently suffers. Nevertheless, improvement is needed. Patients can't be expected to always know when they will need hospitalization.