Response to Dr Foster guide 2013
09 Dec 2013
Commenting on Dr Foster’s Annual Hospital Guide 2013 Professor Norman Williams, President of the Royal College of Surgeons, said:
‘It is not acceptable that mortality and complication rates are significantly higher for patients admitted as emergencies at the weekend. We know that the 48-hour period after surgery is critical to a patient’s chances of recovery, so it is also about making sure there is seven day access to the right facilities in hospital and support available in the community for the next steps in the patient’s treatment.
‘However, no-one should imagine that moving to seven-day care will be cost-neutral. Whereas some economies can be achieved by centralisation of services and improving outcomes, extra costs are likely to be inevitable. There needs to be some serious economic modelling done so that government ministers and the NHS can understand how much better care will cost. Treatment is delivered by many kinds of staff, from pharmacists, therapists and nurses through to consultants, so we need a realistic conversation about the funding for this improvement.’
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