Stroke Patients Admitted to Hospital on Weekend a Third More Likely to Die

Heart stroke patients admitted to a hospital Saturday morning are a third more likely to die as there is shortage of doctors and nurses in most medical facilities during the weekends.

According to a new report on stroke services at NHS hospitals, the post for a consultant stroke physician in one of every four hospitals in England, Wales and North Ireland is vacant and it is unlikely that the position will be filled soon as there are not many doctors being trained for the purpose.

The national standards state that at least three qualified nurses are required to be on duty for every 10 stroke patients. The audit by the Royal College of Physicians also revealed that only about 50 out of 183 hospitals had three qualified nurses on duty for every 10 stroke patient beds, The Telegraph reports. The audit reportedly covered more than 74,000 patients in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.  

NHS Medical Director Sir Bruce Keogh is working on a review of how can hospitals encourage its nurses and doctors to work on the weekends, Daily Mail reports.

A number of studies have shown that the patients admitted to a hospital on a Saturday or Sunday are 16 percent more likely to die.

The report stated that letting patients suffer poor care due to shortage of staff was "clearly unacceptable". It suggested that NHS watchdogs must intervene in order to save the lives of thousands of people.

"Despite steady progress in the care of stroke patients in the UK, there are still major shortages of both nurses and doctors. This is worrying because research shows that death rates are lower when stroke wards have higher numbers of nurses, and death rates for acutely ill patients are lower when there are more doctors available at nights and at weekends," the report says.

According to estimates, around 125,000 patients suffer a stroke in England each year, out of which 40,000 die.

The study has been published in the journal PLOS One.