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Mortality in patients admitted as emergencies during weekends

A recent study in Quality & Safety in Healthcare by Paul Aylin and colleagues examined death rates in patients admitted as emergencies to NHS hospitals in England. This is the largest study published on weekend mortality and highlights an area of concern in relation to the delivery of acute services. Several studies have shown higher mortality for patients admitted as emergencies at weekends compared with emergency admissions on week days. Using routinely collected hospital administrative data, they examined in-hospital deaths for all emergency inpatient admissions to all public acute hospitals in England for 2005/2006. Odds of death were calculated for admissions at the weekend compared to admissions during the week, adjusted for age, sex, socioeconomic deprivation, comorbidity and diagnosis. The overall adjusted odds of death for all emergency admissions was 10% higher in those patients admitted at the weekend compared with patients admitted during a weekday The study was widely reported in the media, including in the Guardian, Telegraph, and Nursing Times.

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