Winter, not weekends, a greater risk for ill children

But experts found significantly more deaths in winter, even after taking into account added risks for children in colder months.

The findings offer further evidence of the benefits of seven-day-a-week cover by senior doctors which is likely to be an increasing feature of NHS hospitals.

The study, by researchers from Leeds and Leicester universities, is the first large-scale analysis of the influence of admission times on deaths in paediatric intensive care units.

It follows research in 2010 which reported that patients admitted for emergency treatment at weekends were up to 10 per cent more likely to die, while leading paediatricians warned last month about large numbers of children admitted out of hours with serious health problems who did not see a specialist promptly.

The latest study, of 29 intensive care units between 2006 and 2011, did not find any impact on death rates of either weekend or night-time emergency admissions.

Roger Parslow, senior lecturer at Leeds University’s School of Medicine, who co-led the study, said: “This is a very large study of over 86,000 admissions and we are confident that children admitted as an emergency outside normal working hours have the same chance of survival as those admitted in normal working hours.

“Paediatric intensive care units have direct consultant input and dedicated staffing out of hours, so proponents of 24/7 consultant care may see this as supporting their case.”

Professor Elizabeth Draper, co-principal investigator from Leicester, added: “The consistency of the quality of care provision by all paediatric intensive care units at any time during the week will be very reassuring for the parents of children requiring intensive care.”

The study found 13 per cent more deaths in November, December and January, which could be linked to greater strain on units at times of high demand.