Impact of the “July Effect” on Patient Outcomes
Authors: Louella Vaughan, Derek Bell, Graeme McAlister
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2012)

Letters17 January 2012Impact of the “July Effect” on Patient OutcomesLouella Vaughan, DPhil, Derek Bell, MD, and Graeme McAlisterLouella Vaughan, DPhilFrom Imperial College London, London SW10 9NH, United Kingdom, and Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH2 1JQ, United Kingdom.Search for more papers by this author, Derek Bell, MDFrom Imperial College London, London SW10 9NH, United Kingdom, and Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH2 1JQ, United Kingdom.Search for more papers by this author, and Graeme McAlisterFrom Imperial College London, London SW10 9NH, United Kingdom, and Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH2 1JQ, United Kingdom.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-156-2-201201170-00021 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:We read with interest Young and colleagues' article (1) and the accompanying editorial (2) 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 (3), 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 ...References1. Young JQ, Ranji SR, Wachter RM, Lee CM, Niehaus B, Auerbach AD. “July effect”: impact of the academic year-end changeover on patient outcomes: a systematic review. Ann Intern Med. 2011;155:309-15. [PMID: 21747093] LinkGoogle Scholar2. Barach P, Philibert I. The July effect: fertile ground for systems improvement [Editorial]. Ann Intern Med. 2011;155:331-2. [PMID: 21747094] LinkGoogle Scholar3. Jen MH, Bottle A, Majeed A, Bell D, Aylin P. Early in-hospital mortality following trainee doctors' first day at work. PLoS One. 2009;4:7103. [PMID: 19774078] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Vaughan LK, McAlister G, Bell D. ‘August is always a nightmare’: results of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and Society of Acute Medicine August transition survey. Clin Med. 2011;11:322-6. [PMID: 21853824] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From Imperial College London, London SW10 9NH, United Kingdom, and Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH2 1JQ, United Kingdom.Disclosures: None disclosed. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee Also“July Effect”: Impact of the Academic Year-End Changeover on Patient Outcomes John Q. Young , Sumant R. Ranji , Robert M. Wachter , Connie M. Lee , Brian Niehaus , and Andrew D. Auerbach The July Effect: Fertile Ground for Systems Improvement Paul Barach and Ingrid Philibert Impact of the “July Effect” on Patient Outcomes Mark P. Jarrett Impact of the “July Effect” on Patient Outcomes John Q. Young , Andrew D. Auerbach , and Sumant R. Ranji Impact of the “July Effect” on Patient Outcomes Shimon (Seymour) M. Glick Metrics 17 January 2012Volume 156, Issue 2Page: 167-168KeywordsConflicts of interestMedical staffOutpatient clinicsPatientsPerceptionSafety ePublished: 17 January 2012 Issue Published: 17 January 2012 CopyrightCopyright © 2012 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF DownloadLoading ...