Tesco hospitals: more surgeons need to work weekends, RCS admits But surgeon leaders said today while hospital were far more "complex" than Tesco, proposals to increase senior doctor levels at weekends should be considered. The Royal College of Surgeons rejected the idea that hospitals should be treated the same as the retailer, but added that more consultants needed to work outside business hours. "Well, it is true there is a problem at weekends, there is no question about it," said Prof Norman Williams, its president. I feel we have to do something about that. It [weekend services] is not across the country, it is in patches. The issue is more consistency throughout the system. But the British Medical Association (BMA), which represents doctors, criticised the proposals. Lower staffing levels in hospitals at weekends have been blamed for higher death rates than during the week. Studies have warned that patients admitted to hospital on a Sunday almost 16 per cent more likely to die than those who arrive on a Wednesday, while deaths from strokes were more common in patients admitted at weekends.