Emergency doctors urge seven-day NHS services to cut deaths and costs

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine plans to press the Health Secretary and Department of Health and Social Care officials to shift the NHS to full seven-day operations. The college says current weekend and bank-holiday reductions in staffing and services are associated with thousands of extra deaths and billions of pounds in added costs.

College president Dr Ian Higginson said the mismatch creates dangerous bottlenecks. He noted that emergency care occurs around the clock while most diagnostic, therapy, social-care and community services operate on a five-day schedule.

Excess deaths and long waits RCEM estimates that 15,860 excess deaths in England last year were linked to long A&E waits, about 305 deaths per week. Multiple studies have shown an 11 percent rise in deaths at weekends, whether patients are in emergency departments or awaiting planned surgery.

New figures show the NHS waiting list reached 7.22 million in April. Cancer waiting-time performance fell to its lowest level in eight months. On average, 2,241 patients per day received care in A&E corridors and another 669 were treated in non-clinical spaces such as cupboards and car parks.

Nearly 1.74 million patients waited at least 12 hours in A&E last year and almost 500,000 waited more than 24 hours.

Discharge delays and added costs Dr Higginson said many patients receive initial scans and admission but then face delays accessing tests, therapists and discharge support once on wards. The college estimates the resulting longer hospital stays cost the NHS £1.2 billion a year and add two million extra bed days.