From UK DAILY MAIL
NHS doctors to be forced to work weekends for the first time in push for improved seven-day a week care
- Oupatients appointments and surgical procedures could be carried out on Saturdays and Sundays for the first time
- The shake up is part of plans by Sir Bruce Keogh, medical director of the new NHS Commissioning Board
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Seven days: Sir Bruce Keogh plans to introduce seven day working to the NHS
Until now, surgery, certain scans and screenings were only performed during the week, but in a shake up planned by Sir Bruce Keogh, medical director of the new NHS Commissioning Board, Saturday and Sunday hours will be written into medical professional's contracts.
Under the proposals, GPs would also be expected to treat patients at weekends.
Sir Keogh said that the NHS should no longer operate for the convenience of staff and not patients.
He told the Sunday Times: 'Our system has been based around providing as good a working environment as you can for the people who work in the health service, which isn't necessarily matched with what the people who want services have.
'If you wanted a day case operation, and you didn't want to take a day off work, why can't you have it on a Saturday or Sunday?'
'Tesco have had to go through this - it was a complex issue for them - we will need to look at the terms and conditions or service of people.'
He added that having empty clinics and operating theatres on a Saturday and Sunday is a wasted of NHS resources.
Research by the board found that a patient admitted to hospital on a Sunday was 16 per cent more likely to die than if they were admitted on a Wednesday.
Keogh can introduce the changes and implement financial rewards and penalties to ensure that hospitals follow the guidelines.
Contract changes: Many medical professionals will have to work Saturdays and Sundays for the first time
Medical professionals will not receive any extra money for working weekends but will be given days off in the week instead.
The proposals will be fully outlined in the NHS Commissioning Board's first planning guidance which will detail how health funds will be spent ahead and which will be released on Tuesday.
The British Medical Association (BMA) last night rejected the idea that that the medical profession could learn from private firms such as Tesco.
