Leading doctors BACK plans for seven-day NHS services despite objections from GPs.

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A truly seven-day NHS is a step closer after doctors’ leaders softened their opposition to supermarket-style opening hours.
After months of opposition to calls for seven-day services, the British Medical Association has agreed the quality of care provided in hospitals at the weekend needs to be improved.
This removes one of the main obstacles to a seven-day NHS.

The British Medical Association is now backing plans for a seven-day NHS service despite GPs opposing the idea when it was first announced

Sir Bruce Keogh, the NHS’s medical director, has said it is no longer acceptable for hospitals and GPs’ surgeries to operate for the convenience of their staff at the expense of patients.
He wants the NHS to learn from private companies such as Tesco and make clinics and same-day operations available seven-days a week.

 

Just a few months ago the BMA declared supermarket-style healthcare was ‘ridiculous’ and ‘utter folly’, The doctors’ trade union has now conceded that consultants should spend more time on the wards out-of-hours. 
Senior doctors have been accused of merely popping into hospitals at weekends, leaving patients in the care of less-experienced staff.
The Mail recently revealed that just five NHS trusts in England employ a consultant to work in A&E overnight – even though thousands of patients turn up during these hours.

Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS England's medical director, talked of clinicians who want to 'solve the problem'

Although most of the other hospitals have an ‘on-call’ consultant, junior staff are often reluctant to trouble them.
In a newly published position paper on seven-day services, the BMA acknowledges that  studies show death rates are higher among patients admitted to hospital at the weekend. It also notes that an inquiry into the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust, where up to 1,200 patients are feared to have died unnecessarily in one of the worst hospital scandals in living memory, found that patients felt vulnerable at the weekend.
The statement says: ‘Improving care quality for patients means more staff, especially senior doctors, on site at weekend and evenings.’
BMA chairman Dr Mark Porter denied the organisation had made a ‘Damascene conversion’ and added: ‘Patients should have greater access to high-quality care throughout the week and doctors should be part of the solution.’
However the BMA has far from made a complete U-turn, as it is still refusing to support proposals for full supermarket-style opening hours.
The BMA’s support is seen as vital in instigating any changes and it insists financial pressures necessitate that any extra weekend work should focus on only the most seriously ill patients.

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