Tales from the Front Line: It's the Weekend

Where all the weekend workers are when you need them.

"Dr. Heneghan, we have a bit of a problem," says the receptionist.

 "The visiting doctor has cancelled because he's ill." 

"So, what's the problem?" I ask. 

"Well, that's not all. We also don't have an emergency practitioner available to make any visits," she replies. "The issue is that we have people booked in for appointments and visits to do, and the only person available is you."

If Labour’s Wes Streeting gets into power, he will tell NHS staff to work weekends to slash waiting lists. Under the plans, weekend scans and operations will get the NHS ‘working around the clock’.

The response from Professor Philip Banfield, the BMA council chair, is scathing of the plan: ‘As we know, for every complex problem, there is a solution that is clear, simple, and wrong,’ he said. 

“Weekend working must come with wider resourcing and considerations,” says the BMA.

Increasing the number of weekends worked will not be straightforward. Out-of-hours work is often short-staffed. The inexperienced usually …