Physician Associate, has anybody heard of these or been treated by one?

Notch7 said:
it would be interesting to hear from somebody who is involved in medical practice
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No, it really wouldn't.


On the one hand, some such person would - with some justification, as well as self-interest - that this is a watering-down of healthcare.

On the other, another such person appears on the outlets each year, imploring us to not clog up the creaking NHS with trivial ailments.
We've all heard them, including the 999 call for a broken fingernail (which is self-evidently ridiculous), but I recall one on R5L a year or two ago, when a healthcare professional was jokingly dismissing someone who'd presented at A and E, with what eventually turned out to be indigestion (probably in some part due to them having eaten a large supper shortly before).

My, how the doctor and the presenter laughed!


A friend's dad ate a large meal, then went to have a sit down and a bit of a play on his computer.
Shortly afterwards, he clutched his chest, then died of a heart attack.
It was Christmas Day.
 
Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

You need pyramid care.

This generates experience which is where the real diagnosis lessons are.

Doctors are increasingly paperwork driven.

It's no different to engineering. The higher up the chain you go, the farther away from the front line you get.

I'd rather a nurse look after me post-op than a doctor.

I'd rather a PA see me reasonably quickly rather than wait 2 weeks for a GP.

I don't go to a brain surgeon for a headache.

Etc. etc.

Don't get caught up in the hysteria.
 
Phone my practise and you get a call back an hour later from doctor asking whats up .
He will then either say come and see me
go and see the nurse
see the physio
or write you a prescription
I dont see any problem with this as another level that the doctor could offer providing the PA doesnt get ahead of himself and the doctors will always be next door if he needs to query something
 
They have been around for 20 years.
A couple of friends are Nurse Practitioners or Prescribing Nurses (different but similar)

It’s common in my practice for me to be seen by specialist nurses (yesterday in fact) and they will refer me to a Dr should they find some thing that is above their job- often they would just have me wait and see a Dr next slot, no second appointment needed.

My local Uni has a whole bioscience centre and trains PAs, in association with the local NHS.
Most PAs have more information at their fingertips than a solo GP had when I was a kid. 90% of GP appointments are trivial.

The key is to ensure that training and performance are monitored and referrals upwards are done in a timely manner.
To be blunt, we don’t have enough medical staff in the NHS. Whatever works to get people seen and treated works.
 
The broader problem is lack of trained (and training of) medical staff, and the disgraceful way the govt has handled the nhs pay claim negotiation, it puts people off going into nursing/medicine. My plumbers charges have gone up35% to cover inflation, why shouldn't doctors/nurses get that too.
 
blup said:
The broader problem is lack of trained (and training of) medical staff, and the disgraceful way the govt has handled the nhs pay claim negotiation, it puts people off going into nursing/medicine. My plumbers charges have gone up35% to cover inflation, why shouldn't doctors/nurses get that too.
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Your plumber has a lot more to pay out than your local GP.
He more than likely hasn't got a bumper pension or a bundle of paid holidays either like your Local GP

If he feels hard done by, he has no one that'll go on strike with him. If he did with all the rest of the plumbers I doubt there would be many deaths because of it.

I also doubt he gets a any back handers from the Pharmacy's.

Can you imagine no plumbers working at weekends or over the Christmas period.
 
Really?
The average UK medical student debt is £70-90k. A bit more than a plumber’s apprentice.
If a GP decides to buy into the partnership, and it owns the building, the cost can be hundreds of thousand of pounds.

You realise that most GPs are in fact just the same as plumbers? They are business people who don’t earn when not working. They are paid by the NHS, for work undertaken. They are not NHS employees and any partner will have to save for a holiday like a plumber. Employed GPs are often paid pro rata on a daily basis and get holiday paid by the practice (not the NHS) at the approximate level of an employee of a similar grade in industry.

My GP surgery is open 6 days a week. They also run a co-op that means other local practices take a turn over Xmas or nights
 
Average GP salary 68k to 104k a year cant see any plumber taking a paycut to retrain as a GP
 
The need for PA's is a direct consequence of the squeals of outrage that they exist.
gas112 said:
Average GP salary 68k to 104k a year cant see any plumber taking a paycut to retrain as a GP
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Basic pay.
Thus they all moonlight as consultants etc and this further restricts access to them.

Could be argued that the requirements to get on a GP doctorate are so high as to be a serious problem. Both in accessibility and in suitability.

PAs are a super idea. They lower the bar for entry, widening the catchment and arguably, improves the suitability of the 1st medical person to see a patient.

Academics don't necessarily make the best (medical) detectives which is what you want on the front line.
 
My aunty who passed away last year 92 donated her body to medical research / training

After they have finished cutting the body up they pay for the burial or cremation

So if you want to save yer family a few squid that’s the way to go
 
transam said:
My aunty who passed away last year 92 donated her body to medical research / training

After they have finished cutting the body up they pay for the burial or cremation

So if you want to save yer family a few squid that’s the way to go
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My granda done better than that he donated his body to science to about half a dozen places getting paid by each a good few quid that he spent in the pub when he died it was too much hassle to sort out so had a normal basic funeral with none getting the body
 
Bod ... said:
Your plumber has a lot more to pay out than your local GP.
He more than likely hasn't got a bumper pension or a bundle of paid holidays either like your Local GP

If he feels hard done by, he has no one that'll go on strike with him. If he did with all the rest of the plumbers I doubt there would be many deaths because of it.

I also doubt he gets a any back handers from the Pharmacy's.

Can you imagine no plumbers working at weekends or over the Christmas period.
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Lol, you think UK Drs are overpaid - you voted Tory, they want a fully privatised system - see how much Drs in the US are paid. You couldn't afford it.

Family Physician in the US - $240k

Surgeon in the US - $400k

Does he have the same costs in personal indemnity?

GP pension is not bumper.

Again if you think they have it so good go and become one.

How long to train a plumber?

How long to train a Dr?

How long to train a Surgeon?
 
The same Tory bots who want a high wage economy are the first to moan when people ask for better wages.

There are dogs and then there are Tory dogs eating their own tail.

Woof Woof.
 
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