Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that hospitals have senior doctors on duty overnight.

Everyone Counts: Planning for patients 2013-14 committed the National Health Service to move towards routine services being available seven days a week. The NHS Services, Seven Days a Week Forum was established to provide evidence and insight to support commissioners and providers to make this happen – which is essential to delivering a much more patient focused service, and one which offers the opportunity to improve clinical outcomes.

The Forum's Summary of Initial Findings concluded the NHS should adopt 10 evidence-based clinical standards to end current variations in outcomes. It was recognised the presence of consultants and the supervision they provide to doctors in training is integral to the delivery of the clinical standards, and should be available seven days a week.

To achieve this NHS England will use the range of commissioning tools and levers at its disposal, including the NHS Contract.

A seven day service does not mean individual doctors or nurses having to work every day of the week. Instead they will require hospitals to adjust their staffing rotas, making full use of the 76% increase in consultants since 2000.