According to an article recently published by “Guardian Professional”, NHS England Medical Director Professor Sir Bruce Keogh has set up a forum focusing on creating a seven days a week NHS. The findings will be published later this year.
The review has come after recent studies have shown that the limited availability of some hospital services at weekends has had a significant impact on the outcomes for patients in comparison to those patients admitted to hospital during the week.
The review will focus on improving diagnostics and urgent emergency care; this will include considering the consequences of the non-availability of services over the weekend.
A study carried out by the Royal College of Surgeons showed that a lack of diagnostic services which were specifically highlighted as having an adverse effect, stopped patients from receiving effective treatment.
There are some hospital Trusts where scanning services are run as a weekday limited hours service; the problem with this is that capacity is not keeping pace with demand.
The Guardian article can be accessed at:
http://www.theguardian.com/healthcare-network/2013/aug/22/seven-day-nhs-mri-scanners
Professor Sir Bruce Keogh’s article can be accessed at: