The cut-price doctor will see you now: Health chiefs raise safety fears over plans to recruit doctor associates with only two years’ training to fill chronic staff shortages in NHS
- British Medical Association says employing medics who are not fully qualified poses a ‘risk’ to patients
- Almost 150 ‘Physician Associates’ already working across the country in GP surgeries and emergency departments
PLANS to recruit an army of cut-price doctors to plug gaps in Scotland’s crisis-hit NHS have sparked safety fears.
There are already almost 150 medics with only two years of training working across the health service in Scotland.
Now NHS chiefs are considering expanding the roles of ‘physician associates’ to pluggaping holes in the frontline workforce.
But the British Medical Association (BMA) has warned relying on the ‘cheaper option’ of medics who are not fully qualified doctors could pose a ‘risk’ to those using the NHS.
Physician associates earn about a third of a consultant’s salary and work in GP surgeries or hospital departments diagnosing medical conditions, analysing test results, assisting in ward rounds and performing some minor procedures.
There are concerns about the recruitment of Physician Associates being used to fill in gaps in the NHS workforce, in GP surgeries or hospital departments diagnosing medical conditions, analysing test results, assisting in ward rounds and performing some minor procedures
The General Medical Council expects the number of these to grow, with 36 universities now running physician associates courses, including the University of Aberdeen. Dr Iain
Kennedy, chairman of the BMA Scottish council, said: ‘This is an issue of serious concern to members across all parts of the medical profession.
‘The principles we are approaching this with are abundantly clear. They are based on the value and indeed necessity of the medical training needed to become a doctor – which must not be put at risk by the pursual of cheaper options.
‘Furthermore, patients must know if they are actually speaking to a doctor or another healthcare professional.’
Physician associates were brought into the NHS amid a shortage of doctors, with plans to increase their numbers to meet rising demand for staff.
But the BMA says patients may not know if they are being treated by a physician associate or a doctor.
The BMA Scottish council passed a motion saying work must begin ‘immediately’ on either ‘abolishing the roles or modifying them to ensure their scope of practice does not negatively infringe on doctors of any grade’.
Scottish surgeon Dr Zubir Ahmed, prospective Labour candidate for Glasgow South West, said: ‘Introducing physician associates has been undertaken without respecting any of the safety-critical established precedents of regulation and definition of scope of area of expertise.’
He added: ‘I cannot recall the Scottish or UK Governments ever asking for patients’ or NHS professionals’ opinions on what impact this might have on standards of care.’
A spokesman for the Royal College of Physicians said: ‘With the long-term workforce plan recommending the expansion of medical associate professionals (MAPs), there is an even more pressing need for regulation. It is becoming increasingly clear that the health and care workforce, patients and the public need more clarity on the MAP role and scope of practice.’
Physician associates earn up to £46,000 a year compared with around £128,000 for a consultant. They can perform procedures such as lumbar punctures – injections into the spine – and intravenous cannulation.
But a Medical Associate Professions Commission is being undertaken by NHS Education for Scotland.
It follows the publication of the NHS Recovery Plan in 2021, which committed to expanding the workforce.
The NHS in England plans to increase the number of physician associates to 10,000 by 2037.
Dr Iain Kennedy, Chair of British Medical Association Scotland says there is ‘serious concern’ across the medical profession that Physician Associates are ‘cheaper options’ and may be used to paper over the cracks of staff shortages
There have been concerns about the safety of the role since the death of a woman after a misdiagnosis.
Emily Chesterton, from Salford, Greater Manchester, died last year aged 30 after two appointments with a physician associate whom she believed was a GP. She was diagnosed with a sprain when she had a blood clot.
Physician associates do only two years of postgraduate training, generally after a bioscience degree, before direct contact with patients.
They work under the supervision of a doctor and are permitted to do a range of tasks including diagnosing illnesses and analysing test results.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Physician associates are an important part of the NHS Scotland workforce.
The Scottish Government will continue to consider how these roles can be utilised to best effect, supervised by senior medical professionals throughout their training and subsequent deployment.’
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