Are junior doctors the root cause of the ‘weekend effect’?
Seven-year UK study finds trainees' admitting patterns may be to blame for higher risk of death
Researchers may have solved the mystery of the ‘weekend effect’, where patients admitted to hospital on a weekend have a higher risk of death.
University of Cambridge-led statisticians reviewed the 30-day mortality rate for 424,800 ED attendances (patients over 16) at one teaching hospital in a bid to find a reason for the weekend effect.
The phenomenon is responsible for an estimated 11,000 UK deaths annually.
In results published in the Emergency Medical Journal, they found the weekend effect was only significant for junior doctors (15% higher risk for their patients).
