13 December 2015

The Sunday Times London reports: PATIENTS needing life-saving liver transplants have turned down the chance to undergo operations on Saturday or Sunday because they believe that death rates are higher for those admitted to hospital at the weekend.

Dr Palak Trivedi, a liver specialist at the UK’s largest transplant centre, said eight of his patients had declined to have a transplant should the offer of an organ occur on a Saturday or Sunday. The patients, he said, had cited statements by Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, in support of their refusal.

Two of the patients had already turned down an organ at the weekend. One has since had a transplant during the week, but the other was still waiting, said Trivedi.

Hunt told the Commons in October “that someone is 15% more likely to die if admitted on a Sunday than on a Wednesday because we do not have as many doctors in our hospitals