Explain seven-day NHS funding, says BMA

  The Government must explain how it will fund plans for an expansion in seven-day services and stop misleading the public over weekend deaths, the BMA has warned. The call came after David Cameron was asked by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn during prime ministers questions yesterday whether he would publish the Department of Health’s analysis of the costs of seven-day services. Mr Corbyn also asked the prime minister whether he and health secretary Jeremy Hunt had been ‘rash and misleading’ in basing their case for seven-day services on claims that there are 6,000 excess weekend deaths within the NHS. A BBC story, published ahead of PMQs, suggested that Mr Hunt had used ‘academically unverified and unpublished data’ in making his case for seven-day services. BMA council chair Mark Porter (pictured) said that Mr Hunt’s misrepresentations of research data had angered doctors and frightened patients by undermining confidence in the quality of weekend care.   Extra investment Dr Porter said: ‘This yet again calls into question figures used by the health secretary in his bid to push through more seven-day services across the UK, without extra funding or staffing. ‘The fact is, doctors work around the clock, seven days a week and they do so under their existing contracts. If the Government want more seven-day services then, rather than using figures designed to worry patients, they should be outlining where the extra doctor...
Source: BMA News - Category: UK Health Source Type: news