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Patients deserve answers on seven-day NHS says BMA

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Patients and doctors still need answers on seven-day hospital services, the leader of the UK’s doctors has said.

This follows the government’s response to a petition calling on Parliament to debate a possible vote of no confidence in the health secretary.

The BMA has been clear that it supports more seven-day hospital services but has raised repeated legitimate concerns over the government’s failure to outline how they will allay the public’s concerns over the potential impact on the service they receive and what they define as a truly seven day NHS.

To date, the government has been unwilling or unable to set out what it defines as seven-day services – despite admitting there is a ‘general public interest in making this information available for the sake of greater transparency and openness.’

A recent public survey of more than 2,000 people in England found that:

  • Two thirds (68 per cent) do not believe the NHS can currently afford to deliver seven-day services in hospitals
  • Almost nine in 10 (87 per cent) believe that doctors alone cannot deliver seven-day services and that a full range of support staff and other services must also be in place
  • The vast majority (84 per cent) say delivering seven-day services should not mean fewer services are available during the week

Commenting, Dr Mark Porter, BMA council chair, said:

“Doctors care for their patients every day and understand their needs, and have been explicit in their support for more seven-day hospital services. We have repeatedly called on the government to outline how they will fund and staff them, and yet neither we nor the public are any closer to finding out the detail of the government’s plans.

“Two-thirds of the public don’t think the NHS can afford seven-day services. Almost nine in 10 don’t believe doctors alone can deliver it, and 84 per cent say delivering seven-day services should not mean fewer services are available during the week.

“It is positive that the government, in their response to the public petition, have listened to the BMA and recognised that improving weekend care requires more than just ensuring greater consultant presence. Just adding a doctor to a ward will make no real difference if the support is not there. But recognising this is not enough, we need the detail.

“The government won’t even define what they mean by seven day services, despite confirming that such a definition does exist and that it would be in the public interest to say so. It is in everybody’s interests that the government is honest with the public and sets outs its plans.”

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