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

摘要

Background Increased mortality rates associated with weekend hospital admission (the so-called weekend eff ect) have been attributed to suboptimum staffi ng levels of specialist consultants. However, evidence for a causal association is elusive, and the magnitude of the weekend specialist defi cit remains unquantifi ed. This uncertainty could hamper eff orts 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.