Patients admitted to hospital on the weekend for emergency surgery are significantly more likely to die – even if staffing levels are identical to that on a weekday. The finding, published in the British Journal of Anaesthesia, promises to fuel an ongoing row over weekend care on the NHS. Experts at St George’s Hospital in London and Southampton University examined death rates within 30 days of being admitted to hospital for emergency operations. They found that patients admitted on a Saturday or Sunday were significantly likely to die within a month than those who were admitted Monday to Friday. But when they adjusted their results to take into account staffing levels of nurses, doctors and surgeons, the weekend admissions had an 11 percent higher mortality than the weekday admissions. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is intent on creating a better seven-day NHS and changing contracts so doctors cannot refuse to work. And he has repeatedly cited evidence of a “weekend effect” of increased out-of-hours mortality, insisting that this is due to staffing levels. But doctors insist they already work at weekends and have repeatedly accused Hunt and colleagues of cherry-picking evidence to support their claims. Earlier this year, Hunt told the House of Commons, “Someone is 15 percent more likely to die if admitted on a Sunday than on a Wednesday because we do not have as many doctors in our hospitals at the weekends as we have mid-week.” Study author Professor Mike Grocott, critical care specialist at the University of Southampton, said last night, “When weekend staffing levels are taken out, there is still an 11 percent difference in mortality. That suggests it is not about staffing levels of nurses and doctors, but is much more complex.” He said he could not say for sure why this might be, but added, “It might be about how quick people get to hospital, how many porters or other non-medical staff are working. It might be that people are sicker when they get to hospital, because they may have been sitting at home for longer waiting for a GP appointment – we just do not know.” Dr Mark Porter, council chair of the British Medical Association doctors’ union, said, “Doctors of all grades work around the clock to provide emergency care.”