This is a serious issue, so you'll all be pleased to know that I have the definitive solution.
1) Jeremy Hunt tells us (and who are we to doubt him?) that the contract needs to change to facilitate a 'full' 7 day NHS hospital service.
2) He says that many patients are dying unnecessarily because junior doctors are not working at weekends.
3) The BMA say that it's not quite that simple, that a) the evidence is unclear (patients who are in hospital at weekends tend to be more ill than patients in hospital during weekdays) and b) there wouldn't be the ancillary services required anyway, e.g. the lab technicians, radiographers etc.
4) Both can't be right, fortunately we have a Health secretary committed to evidence based medicine, so why not...
5) Defer the contract for a time, say 24 months, but trial 7 day working in a few selected hospitals for the same period. (After all, the NHS has been working for 70 years so far, and we're not all dead yet - what's the hurry?)
6) With care, that will give solid evidence of whether this is an avenue worth pursuing and the likely additional costs involved.
Who could possibly object?
