Physician associates ought to be banned from giving diagnoses to “improve patient safety”, the British Medical Association has stated.
In new steerage printed on Thursday, the union stated medical affiliate professions (MAPs) should not be liable for first assessing or diagnosing sufferers, and should be carefully supervised when tending to those that have already seen a health care provider.
The British Medical Association (BMA) added that MAPs, a class that features doctor associates (PAs) and anaesthesia associates (AAs), must also chorus from telling sufferers “I am one of the medical team”, with out stating their precise job title.
MAPs have been launched by the NHS in 2003 to help docs, however have been criticised for high-profile errors.
In 2022, actress Emily Chesterton died from a blood clot after being misdiagnosed twice. She believed she had been seen by a GP, however as a substitute was assessed on each events by a PA.
Professor Phil Banfield, BMA chair of counsel, stated the union hopes the doc will “improve patient safety”.
The BMA’s Faculty of Physician Associates estimated that in 2021 there have been round 3,000 certified PAs working within the UK and 300 AAs within the NHS.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson stated in response: “Physician associates have worked in the NHS for over two decades.
“They have been discovered to be protected, positively contributing to medical and surgical groups, and affected person expertise, whereas supporting the medical groups’ workload – which is why we expanded the function of PAs within the NHS’s Long-Term Workforce Plan.
“The legislation regulating both PAs and anaesthesia associates has now been approved by parliament and will be in place by the end of 2024.
“It will set requirements of follow, guaranteeing that PAs meet the requirements that we count on of all regulated professionals, with the General Medical Council working strict fitness-to-practice procedures and setting schooling and coaching expectations.”
Source: information.sky.com”