ghp June 2015

14 | ghp June 2015 Tackling the Weekday Effect By Nick Simpson, CEO of MSI Group The ‘weekday effect’ has been the topic of much concern and deliberation within the health ser- vice since the British Medical Journal reported that patients who have planned surgery near the end of a week or at weekends are at greater risk of dying than those operated on at the start of the week. Indeed, the statistically significant increase in mortality rates is nothing less than shocking; patients who have their operation on a Friday or Saturday are respectively 44% and 82% more likely to die within the next 30 days, than those having surgery on a Monday. industry insight