When to have that operation?

Going into hospital is always a cause of anxiety. However if you go in at the end of the week you have more reason to be worried, according to the latest research published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ). Why is this the case? Almost all problems occur post-operatively within 48 hours of surgery, and if staff are not available then difficulties will arise. So Friday has been termed - 'fatal Friday' when you are almost 50% more likely to die than those who are operated on earlier in the week. I know this myself - in December 2000 I went into hospital to have a minor operation on my hand on the Thursday. I was discharged, but a serious infection then turned gangrenous, and I almost lost my arm, but had to settle with loosing my finger. In the next few months I will have to go into hospital again for a similar operation on my left hand, hopefully with a very different result. When I worked at the Middlesex Hospital in London almost 40 years ago finding a doctor after lunch on Friday was like looking for hens teeth, they didn't exist! They were either playing golf or in Harley Street seeing their private patients. Depressingly nothing has changed.