Researchers from Departments of Anaesthesia, Critical Care and Surgery at the University of Edinburgh undertook a large epidemiological study looking at data from all patients having emergency surgery in NHS hospitals in Scotland over a three-year period. Data from over 50 000 patients having emergency general surgery were analyzed and we found that having surgery at the weekend was not associated with short or long term risk of death. In our analysis no particular day of the week was associated with an increased risk of death. Patients in our study, admitted at the weekend were more likely to have their surgery sooner.