Simon
Senior Member
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- Monmouth, UK
I guess this isn't so surprising when a front page news story backs up the government-of-the-day's controversial policy:
(The UK government want to bring in a fully-staffed 7 day service against much resistance: many people fear that since the current 5 + 2 service can't cope, the money would be better spent on raising standards for that. Junior doctors are striking over the govt imposing a new contract they say will reduce their earning by removing the premium for weekend working)
Babies born at weekends 'have higher death risk' - BBC News
Babies more likely to die if born in NHS hospitals at weekend - Telegraph
It's not really true. Babies born following admission of the mother to hospital on a weekend had a higher mortality rate than for admissions on a Tuesday. But so too did babies born to mothers admitted on Weds, Thurs and Fri - as the graph below shows (days from left to right are Monday-Sunday). Which looks like blatant reporting cherry-picking to me.
Crucially for the current debate:
(The UK government want to bring in a fully-staffed 7 day service against much resistance: many people fear that since the current 5 + 2 service can't cope, the money would be better spent on raising standards for that. Junior doctors are striking over the govt imposing a new contract they say will reduce their earning by removing the premium for weekend working)
Babies born at weekends 'have higher death risk' - BBC News
Babies more likely to die if born in NHS hospitals at weekend - Telegraph
It's not really true. Babies born following admission of the mother to hospital on a weekend had a higher mortality rate than for admissions on a Tuesday. But so too did babies born to mothers admitted on Weds, Thurs and Fri - as the graph below shows (days from left to right are Monday-Sunday). Which looks like blatant reporting cherry-picking to me.
Crucially for the current debate:
Study: Association between day of delivery and obstetric outcomes: observational study | The BMJThe study said:No consistent association between outcomes and staffing was identified,
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