July 18, 2016

the NHS weekend effect: what does the evidence say?

The observed ‘weekend effect’ in the NHS, where patients admitted to hospital over the weekend have worse outcomes than patients admitted during the week, has underpinned many rows and debates about how hospital services should be funded and structured. The move towards a ‘seven day NHS’ with equal levels of senior staffing across all days has become a hot political topic, but are the claims about the weekend effect accurate and evidence-based?

It is a challenging area to research, but the emerging picture is that the weekend effect is much more complex than it appears. One key group conducting research in this field is the HiSLAC project, which is investigating the impact of specialist-led care on emergency admissions.

A panel of experts who have researched the weekend effect, including from the HiSLAC project, came to the SMC to discuss their work and the current evidence behind the phenomenon. They covered points such as:

• What is the so-called ‘weekend effect’?
• How does it vary across different patient outcomes and conditions?
• Are their differences in patient outcomes between different week days as well?
• What role does staffing levels play?
• What other factors influence these outcomes?
• What are the different methodologies used to investigate the weekend effect?
• How robust is the evidence and how should it be interpreted?
• How can this research better inform health policy?

Speakers:

Prof. Julian Bion, Chief Investigator, HiSLAC Project, & Professor of Intensive Care Medicine, University of Birmingham

Dr Cassie Aldridge, Project Manager, HiSLAC Project, University of Birmingham

Rachel Meacock, Research Fellow in Health Economics, University of Manchester

Prof. Paul Aylin, Professor of Epidemiology & Public Health, Imperial College London