Some physician associates are paid £90,000 a year - more than twice a junior doctor's salary

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Doctors union the British Medical Association has backed The Mail on Sunday's calls to crack down on rogue physician associates - after a string of blunders by medics with just two years' training.

The Government wants to recruit 10,000 physician associates by 2038Doctors union the British Medical Association has backed The Mail on Sunday’s calls to crack down on rogue physician associates – after a string of blunders involving the medics who have just two years’ training.

After our exposés, the British Medical Association joined a growing chorus of concern in the medical community, stating that ‘no junior doctor should prescribe medicines solely at the request of a PA’. My neck was broken – and they just told me to take painkillers When Michael Nicholson called his local Somerset GP practice in October to request an urgent appointment, he was given a choice: wait a week to see the GP or see a physician associate the next morning.

Nevertheless, Doreen purchased more painkillers for Michael, as well as turmeric oil, a heat wrap, a groove pillow and a brace to try to help ease the discomfort. However, nothing helped. The urgency is clear: over the past fortnight, we have uncovered more cases where patients believe that they have been misdiagnosed by a PA.

It added that current proposals, which include granting PAs the right to prescribe medicine, were ‘unsafe, premature and lacking the necessary safeguards’. ‘This is putting patients in danger because they are effectively being diagnosed and treated by an unqualified medic. There is urgent need to regulate PAs before any more harm is done.’

The Government has also committed to increasing the number of doctors and nurses in the NHS by training thousands more over the coming 15 years, but experts say that it will take time for these medics to qualify.Advertisement ‘A medical student who begins studying this year won’t be qualified to become a GP for another decade,’ says Dr Dean Eggitt, a Doncaster-based GP.

‘After ten weeks of continual pain, I saw a physiotherapist who referred me for a scan,’ says Roland. ‘It showed that I had torn the bicep ligaments in my left arm. I will possibly need an operation to reattach them.Another reader to fall foul of a PA is Annette Wallman, 73, from South London, who was incorrectly told by a PA to stop taking her blood pressure medication.

Within days of swapping medication, Annette’s blood pressure rocketed and her heart started beating incredibly fast.‘The on-call GP I spoke to said the PA had made a mistake and I needed to start taking my old medication immediately.’

 

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