Seven day consultant-present care

The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges published a press release and a report [pdf] on the need for seven day consultant-present care. They set out three principles:
• Hospital inpatients should be reviewed by an on-site consultant at least once every 24 hours, seven days a week, unless it has been determined that this is not necessary for the patient
• Consultant-supervised interventions and investigations along with reports should be provided daily if the results will change the outcome or status of the patient’s overall care before the next ‘normal’ working day. This should include interventions which will enable immediate discharge or a shortened length of stay
• Support services both in hospitals and in the primary care community setting should be available daily to ensure that the next steps in the patient’s treatment, as determined by the daily consultant review, can be taken. It also acknowledges that it is outside its scope to look in detail at community services.