Weekend admission to psychiatric hospital is not linked to increased risk of death

Being admitted to a psychiatric hospital at the weekend is not associated with a higher risk of death than admission during the week, research published in the British Journal of Psychiatry has found.1 However, patients admitted at the weekend had shorter admissions and were more likely to be readmitted, suggesting that weekend patients have ongoing, unresolved treatment needs.

The finding is topical because of the government’s pledge to implement full seven day working in the NHS and impose a new contract on junior doctors. England’s health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has repeatedly said that excess deaths at weekends are a result of …