The evidence of an NHS weekend effect is shaky | Letter from Neena Modi, David Owen, Robert Winston, Stephen Hawking and others

We call on Theresa May to act in the public’s interest and take immediate action over freshly disputed evidence surrounding a “weekend effect”. Department of Health documents leaked to the Guardian and Channel 4 News revealed NHS policy concerns from Jeremy Hunt’s own civil servants. His repeated claim about thousands of patients dying unnecessarily because of poor weekend hospital care “has not been helpful” in justifying new seven-day services. The internal briefing document proposed other means to vindicate his policy, but repeats the assertion that “eight independent studies have set out the evidence for a ‘weekend effect’ – unacceptable variation in care across the week”.

The evidence for these claims is not supported by reliable research. Of the eight “studies” cited by Hunt, only four are independently peer-reviewed, yet peer-review is essential. Three use data from the same population and are not independent, with just two from the last decade. The remainder are not peer-reviewed medical literature, being opinion pieces, the lowest form of clinical evidence. Critically, when his claims began, at least 13 independent, peer-reviewed papers were available to the secretary of state that refute his definition of a weekend effect.

Hunt has cherrypicked research, causing a devastating breakdown of trust between government and the medical profession. In making these claims without faithfully representing the evidence, he has obstructed fact and misled parliament and the public.

We call on Theresa May to commission an independent inquiry into the process behind these policies. It is wrong to waste precious resources, or lives, because of bad evidence. Like NHS treatments, health policy should be evidence-based to demonstrate clinical and cost-effectiveness. Additionally, we call for a pause on any policies or contractual reform driven by this evidence until it can be examined objectively and with rigour.

Dr Taha Nasser
Dr Ben White
Dr Hugo Farne
Dr Antonio De Marvao
Dr Rachel Clarke
Dr Margaret McCartney
Dr Philippa Whitford MP
Dr Phil Hammond Vice-president, Patients’ Association
Professor Alistair Hall Epidemiologist
Professor Trisha Greenhalgh Evidence-based practice
Professor Neena Modi President RCPCH
David Owen House of Lords
Professor Robert Winston House of Lords
Professor Stephen Hawking

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The evidence of an NHS weekend effect is shaky | Letter from Neena Modi, David Owen, Robert Winston, Stephen Hawking and others

Do we have the appropriate to shape human evolution, wonders Robert Winston livestream

Tonight, Prof Robert Winston ponders our “publish-human” long term. The question he will address is regardless of whether scientists ought to be given free rein to use advances in molecular biology – in certain our increasing potential to manipulate the genetic blueprint carried by eggs and sperm – to direct the evolution of our species and create Humanity 2..

That this kind of a issue will one particular day be possible is beyond doubt now that geneticists can precisely edit the genome of monkeys. This procedure, and other individuals like it, will permit us to change faulty or otherwise “undesirable” genes in the human germline with new improved versions of the very same gene.

In principle we could layout people to be more powerful, smarter and much less susceptible to physical and psychological illness. It has been advised, for example, that our genome could be tweaked to make potential generations resistant to HIV. We can already edit the DNA in patients’ immune cells to make them significantly less vulnerable to the virus.

So we can form the genetic future of our species, but must we? Is it ethically defensible to decide the genetic fate of folks not however born? As a higher-profile IVF professional, Prof Winston has been no stranger to such concerns, which have been dwell problems for much more than a decade in his area. He warned recently about the rich paying out for “designer infants”.

View his lecture on the livestream beneath from six.15pm BST.

Robert Winston delivers the Physiological Society summer season lecture at 6.15pm

The lecture is billed to last about an hour and is taking spot at the Churchill Auditorium, The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London.

Do we have the appropriate to shape human evolution, wonders Robert Winston livestream

Robert Winston: infertile ladies being "exploited"

At question time, the Labour peer explained several clinics had been marketing on the London underground and “some have relationships to do perform overseas in other clinics which are not permitted by British regulation”.

Lord Howe informed him: “I recognise the value of the problem which you have raised and some of those problems are incredibly troubling.”

The minister said he did not have an up-to-date statement on the policy place the Government was taking but promised to compose to Lord Winston.

Lord Winston was recently reported to have warned that a developing market place for fertility treatments could “threaten our humanity”, which includes if the wealthy have been capable to spend for so-called “designer infants”.

The fertility specialist who designed important developments in IVF therapy advised fellow academics at a conference “we have been carried away” by breakthroughs in reproduction.

Robert Winston: infertile ladies being "exploited"