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Thousands of hospital patients dying 'because too few senior staff work weekends'
Higher deaths rates at weekends mean thousands of patients every year are dying unnecessarily, according to the findings.

Patients were seven per cent more likely to die if they were admitted as an emergency case on a Saturday or Sunday, the largest study of its kind shows.

The higher rates were equivalent to 3,369 extra deaths a year, more than the total number who die every year on Britain’s roads.

Conditions including heart attacks, heart failure, stroke and some cancers all had higher deaths rates at weekends than Monday to Friday.

The team behind the findings warned that a lack of senior staff, such as consultants, working weekends and reduced access to specialist services could be behind the higher death rates. ...