Impact of the “July Effect” on Patient Outcomes

Louella Vaughan; Derek Bell; Graeme McAlister

doi:10.7326/0003-4819-156-2-201201170-00021

Letters |17 January 2012

Impact of the “July Effect” on Patient Outcomes

Louella Vaughan, DPhil; Derek Bell, MD; Graeme McAlister

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Potential Conflicts of Interest: None disclosed.

TO THE EDITOR:

We read with interest Young and colleagues' article ²¹ and the accompanying editorial ²¹ on the “July effect,” with a view to our own recent trans-Atlantic experience. Just as July is regarded with trepidation in the United States, so is the first Wednesday in August in the United Kingdom—the traditional changeover day for an estimated 50 000 junior doctors.

Following the recent work of one of our authors ²¹, which demonstrated a significant increase in mortality on the first Wednesday in August compared with the last Wednesday in July, we took a survey of perceptions of medical staff toward the August transition through the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and the Society of Acute Medicine ²¹. Of the 763 responses received, more than 90% perceived that the transition had a negative effect on patient care and patient safety, with lesser effects on training and outpatient clinics. The effects of the transition were perceived to last up to 1 month.

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Letters |17 January 2012

Impact of the “July Effect” on Patient Outcomes

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Letters |17 January 2012

Impact of the “July Effect” on Patient Outcomes

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