Jeff Moore/PA
Anaesthetists United has launched a campaign amid growing concerns that doctors are being replaced by Physician Associates (PA) in the NHS.
Under the government’s NHS Workforce Plan, some 10,000 PAs are expected to be recruited by the health service within the next ten years, leading to accusations of an “uncontrolled expansion” of so-called ‘fake doctors’.
PAs don’t undergo the same training as doctors but are being permitted to take on many of the roles doctors have traditionally fulfilled.
It has, in some cases, resulted in devastating consequences.
According to reports detailed in UnHerd, one young man was discharged with a diagnosis of gastritis and anxiety when he showed up to A&E in 2022 with chest pains and was seen by a PA.
He did later that night from an aortic dissection, a fatal bleed from the largest artery in the body.
Another patient, a 79-year-old man, was diagnosed with tension headaches after seeing a PA about severe pain in his skull that developed after he knocked his head
He then suffered a subdural haematoma — a bleed on the brain — and ended up spending months in hospital, unable to speak, walk or move his arms.
“We think patients deserve better; they should be cared for by doctors when necessary and should know who is and is not a doctor”, Anaesthetists United wrote on a crowdfunding page, adding that they are “ready to take action”.
Viral campaigner Peter Stefanovic has also released a film on the matter that has already racked up over a million views.
Click here to visit the campaign page.
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