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Patient Safety Learning

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  1. Patient Safety Learning
    The government ignored expert warnings to regulate physician associates (PAs) for more than two decades and now patients have come to harm, doctors have said.
    A leading doctors’ union blamed the “dithering of successive governments” for the “extremely dangerous” increase in PAs carrying out doctors’ duties.
    Jeremy Hunt, then health secretary, told a House of Lords committee in 2016 that the government was “committed to introducing legislation for regulatory reform” and it was “a question of finding a parliamentary slot”, citing Brexit debates as a cause of the delay.
    Seven years, two consultations and at least two deaths later, regulation of PAs is still a year away, following a series of delays that the Faculty of Physician Associates itself has called “disappointing”.

    Dr Matt Kneale, co-chair of the Doctors’ Association UK, told The Telegraph the lack of regulation “poses a significant risk to both patient safety and the overall standard of care within the NHS”.
    He said supervising doctors taking on the accountability for PA was not a “tenable long-term solution”.

    “Regulation could and should have been introduced earlier to prevent instances of patient harm. The lack of action for over two decades is concerning and requires urgent action,” he added.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: The Telegraph, 14 October 2023
  2. Patient Safety Learning
    A primary school teaching assistant died from a stroke after hospital staff told her family that the life-saving treatment she needed was not available at weekends.
    Jasbir Pahal, 44, who had four children and was known as Jas, died in November last year after suffering a stroke. Her family was told she could only be treated with aspirin because a procedure to remove the blood clot was only available from 8am to 3pm, Monday to Friday.
    It has now emerged that the life-saving treatment, called mechanical thrombectomy, was available at an NHS hospital trust just a 40-minute drive away from the Calderdale Royal hospital in Halifax where she was being treated, but there were no arrangements for such transfers.
    Jasbir’s husband, Satinder Pahal, 49, said: “We have paid the ultimate price for this deficient service. Despite our pleas to save Jas’s life, all they could do was to give her an aspirin.
    “My wife was a vegetarian, never drank alcohol or smoked. She was fit and healthy and she wasn’t given the chance to survive. Jas was the centre of our worlds and her loss will impact us for ever.” The family are calling for urgent action to prevent future deaths."
    The Observer reported last month of warnings by the Stroke Association charity and clinicians about the regional variations in access to mechanical thrombectomy. It has been described as a “miracle” treatment, with some patients who were at risk of death or permanent disability walking out of hospital the day after the procedure.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 15 October 2023
  3. Patient Safety Learning
    An ambulance trust has apologised after a patient who was declared "dead" later woke up in hospital.
    As first reported by The Northern Echo, the individual was taken by paramedics to Darlington Memorial Hospital on Friday. The newspaper reported they had been declared dead following an incident earlier that day.
    The North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) apologised to the patient's family and said an inquiry had begun.
    The patient has not been identified or their current condition revealed.
    NEAS director of paramedicine Andrew Hodge said: "As soon as we were made aware of this incident, we opened an investigation and contacted the patient's family.
    "We are deeply sorry for the distress that this has caused them.
    "A full review of this incident is being undertaken and we are unable to comment any further at this stage.
    "The colleagues involved are being supported appropriately and we will not be commenting further about any individuals at this point."
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 17 October 2023
  4. Patient Safety Learning
    High use of agency staff contributed to the care failings exposed at a mental health trust by undercover reporters, an internal inquiry has found.
    Essex Partnership University Trust was at the centre of a Channel 4 documentary last year which raised concerns over care, including the use of restraints and patient observations.
    The trust initially refused to release the final report after a freedom of information request by HSJ, but has now released a redacted version on appeal. 
    The report identified a number of concerns in relation to patient and staff safety, saying factors that contributed to these concerns included high usage of temporary staff and high patient acuity on the two acute mental health wards recorded.
    The internal inquiry looked into allegations of the inappropriate use of restraints raised in the documentary. This section, which contained redactions, found restraint was taught to be used as a last resort, but suggested high temporary staffing levels and a “lack of confident and adequately skilled staff” contributed to guidance not being followed.
    Another concern was around staff sleeping on duty and the use of mobile phones during patient observations. The internal inquiry found there was an “absence of visible leadership and role modelling” to ensure this did not happen during clinical practice.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 17 October 2023
  5. Patient Safety Learning
    Health advocates in the USA are calling on the Biden administration to declare a public health emergency over a steep rise in congenital syphilis cases. The easily treated infection has quintupled in 10 years and can have harrowing impacts on children.
    Congenital syphilis happens when a baby contracts syphilis from its mother. Up to 40% of babies born to untreated mothers will be stillborn or die. Others can be left with severe birth defects such as bone damage, anaemia, blindness or deafness, and “neurological devastation”.
    “There is not a single baby that should be born in the US with syphilis,” David Harvey, the executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors, told the Guardian. “We will be judged very severely as a country and a society for allowing this to happen to babies, when it is so easy to diagnose, treat and prevent this disease.”
    Rates of the disease have reached a nearly 30-year high just as supplies of the preferred medication, called Bicillin L-A, are in short supply. Syphilis can be cured with between one and three shots of the medication.
    Pfizer is the only manufacturer of the medication, a form of the first antibiotic ever synthesized, penicillin. The company said it does not expect shortages to be resolved before 2024, and blamed low supply partly on the increase in syphilis cases.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 17 October 2023
  6. Patient Safety Learning
    ChatGPT , the artificial intelligence tool, may be better than a doctor at following recognised treatment standards for depression, and without the gender or social class biases sometimes seen in the physician-patient relationship, a study suggests.
    The findings were published in Family Medicine and Community Health. The researchers said further work was needed to examine the risks and ethical issues arising from AI’s use.
    Globally, an estimated 5% of adults have depression, according to the World Health Organization. Many turn first to their GP for help. Recommended treatment should largely be guided by evidence-based clinical guidelines in line with the severity of the depression.
    ChatGPT has the potential to offer fast, objective, data-based insights that can supplement traditional diagnostic methods as well as providing confidentiality and anonymity, according to researchers from Israel and the UK.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 16 October 2023
  7. Patient Safety Learning
    Britain’s top family doctor is calling for a “black alert” system to be introduced in general practice so that doctors can warn when surgeries are dangerously over capacity.
    It comes as a report reveals that almost half of GPs can no longer guarantee safe care for millions of patients, as a shortage of medics means they are unable to cope with soaring demand.
    Prof Kamila Hawthorne, the chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), which represents 54,000 family doctors across the UK, wants a patient safety alert system introduced that is modelled on the operational pressures escalation levels (Opel) warnings – known as “black alerts” – already used by hospitals.
    It would enable practices and GPs to flag unsafe levels of workload, triggering support from their local health system. GP surgeries would be able to temporarily suspend non-priority activities – including some regular health checkups, certain routine but mandatory staff training and non-urgent paperwork – during periods of excessive workload. This would allow surgeries to reprioritise routine and non-urgent activity and ensure patient safety is prioritised.
    Hawthorne said: “General practice is a safety-critical industry yet GPs have none of the mechanisms that other safety-critical professions, such as the air traffic industry, have in place to protect them.
    “Our number one priority is the safety of our patients, but GPs are doing more and more to try to meet the rising demand for our services. When you’re fatigued, you’re more likely to make mistakes and our survey shows that many GPs are no longer able to guarantee that the care they are providing to their patients is as safe as it could be.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 17 October 2023
  8. Patient Safety Learning
    Stroke patients should be offered extra rehabilitation on the NHS, say updated guidelines for England and Wales.
    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) had previously recommended 45 minutes a day.
    But it believes some patients may need more intensive therapy for recovery and is suggesting three hours a day, five days a week.
    Experts welcome the advice, but question how feasible it will be for a stretched health service to deliver.
    NICE accepts it may be "challenging", but it says patients and families deserve the best care possible. That includes help regaining speech, movement and other functions caused by the damage that happens to the brain during a stroke.
    NHS England has said increasing the availability of high quality rehabilitation is a priority. More people than ever are surviving a stroke thanks to improvements in NHS care, it added.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News,18 October 2023
  9. Patient Safety Learning
    At least two trusts are set to fall short on a high-profile pledge to eradicate ‘dormitory’ style wards in mental health facilities, with delays caused by cost pressures and shortage of materials and labour.
    In 2020, ministers said more than 1,200 beds in mental health dormitories across more than 50 sites would be replaced with single, en-suite accommodation by March 2025. Around £400m was allocated to achieve this.
    However, information gathered by HSJ via freedom of information requests suggests there will be at least 37 dormitory beds still in use beyond that date.
    In 2018, the Care Quality Commission said: “In the 21st century, patients, many of whom have not agreed to admission, should not be expected to share sleeping accommodation with strangers, some of whom may be agitated”. Patients have told HSJ they felt “distressed”, “unsafe” and “intimidated” on dormitory style wards.
    Leaders of trusts impacted by delays told HSJ of rising cost pressures, shortages of construction materials and availability of labour.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 17 October 2023
  10. Patient Safety Learning
    Over the counter genetic tests in the UK that assess the risk of cancer or heart problems fail to identify 89% of those in danger of getting killer diseases, a new study has found.
    Polygenic risk scores are so unreliable that they also wrongly tell one in 20 people who receive them they will develop a major illness, even though they do not go on to do so.
    That is the conclusion of an in-depth review of the performance of polygenic risk scores, which underpin tests on which consumers spend hundreds of pounds.
    The findings come amid a boom in the number of companies offering polygenic risk score tests which purport to tell customers how likely they are to get a particular disease.
    Academics at University College London (UCL) who undertook the research are warning that such tests are so flawed they should be regulated “to protect the public from unrealistic expectations” that they will correctly identify their risk of a particular disease.
    The authors concluded: “Polygenic risk scores performed poorly in population screening, individual risk prediction and population risk stratification.
    “Strong claims about the effect of polygenic risk scores on healthcare seem to be disproportionate to their performance.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 17 October 2023
  11. Patient Safety Learning
    A locum responsible pharmacist has been issued a warning after a patient died when he dispensed the wrong strength of oxycodone during a staffing crunch, the regulator has revealed.
    Paresh Gordhanbhai Patel supplied 120mg rather than the prescribed 20mg of oxycodone hydrochloride to an “elderly” patient while working two locum shifts as responsible pharmacist at Crompton Pharmacy at Whitley House Surgery in Chelmsford.
    After taking one tablet, the patient died from an “accidental” oxycodone “overdose”, the General Pharmaceutical Council’s (GPhC) fitness-to-practise (FtP) committee heard at a hearing held on 11-13 September.
    Mr Patel admitted that he was “stressed and overtired” when he failed to notice a “discrepancy” between the prescribed strength of oxycodone and what he ordered and dispensed,
    The regulator heard that Mr Patel was “over-conscientious” and felt compelled “at a human level” to help out at the under-staffed pharmacy, despite the fact that it was “not safe to do so”, it added.
    Mr Patel admitted that his errors “amounted to misconduct” and conceded to the committee that his fitness to practise was “impaired” because he “breached one of the fundamental principles of the pharmacy profession.”
    The regulator heard that Mr Patel had “immediately” admitted his mistake to the pharmacy and did so again at the coroner’s inquest, where he also publicly apologised to the patient’s family.
    Read full story
    Source: Chemist and Druggist, 12 October 2023
  12. Patient Safety Learning
    Thousands of complaints made against nurses and midwives were rejected by the watchdog without investigation last year as it battles a huge backlog amid concerns rogue staff are being left unchecked.
    The Nursing and Midwifery Council has rejected hundreds more cases a year since 2018, including 339 where nurses faced a criminal charge, 18 for alleged sexual offences and 599 over allegations of violence in 2022-23, according to data shared exclusively with The Independent.
    The new figures come after The Independent revealed shocking allegations that nurses and midwives accused of serious sexual, physical and racial abuse are being allowed to keep working because whistleblowers are being ignored and that the NMC was failing to tackle internal reports of alleged racism.
    And now, a new internal document, obtained by The Independent, reveals more staff have come forward to raise concerns since our expose.
    Former Victims’ Commissioner Dame Vera Baird KC said the backlog of complaints was “worryingly high” and called for urgent action to tackle it.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 19 October 2023
  13. Patient Safety Learning
    Naga Munchetty has said she spent decades being failed, gaslit and “never taken seriously” by doctors, despite suffering debilitatingly heavy periods, repeated vomiting and pain so severe that she would lose consciousness.
    The BBC presenter, newsreader and journalist told the Commons women and equalities committee on Wednesday that she was “deemed normal” and told to “suck it up” by NHS GPs and doctors during the 35 years she sought help for her symptoms.
    Munchetty was finally diagnosed with adenomyosis, a condition where the lining of the womb starts growing into the muscle in its walls, in November last year.
    She said she was consistently told by doctors that “everyone goes through this”.
    “I was especially told this by male doctors who have never experienced a period but also by female doctors who hadn’t experienced period pain,” said Munchetty.
    Munchetty’s diagnosis came after she had bled heavily for two weeks and experienced pain so severe she asked her husband to call an ambulance. Only then was she taken seriously, seeing a GP who specialised in women’s reproductive health. That GP advised her to use private healthcare to avoid lengthy NHS waiting lists.
    Munchetty and Vicky Pattison, a television and media personality, were giving evidence as part of the committee’s inquiry into the challenges that women face being diagnosed and treated for gynaecological and reproductive conditions.
    The committee is also considering any disparities that exist in diagnosis and treatment, and the impact of women’s experiences on their health and lives.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 19 October 2023
  14. Patient Safety Learning
    A woman has spoken of her "complete shock" at being misdiagnosed with cancer and undergoing surgery when she never had the condition at all.
    Megan Royle, 33, from East Yorkshire, was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2019.
    As part of her treatment, she underwent immunotherapy and her eggs were frozen due to the risk to her fertility.
    But after she was given the all-clear in 2021, a review showed she never had cancer and she has now won compensation from the two NHS trusts involved.
    Ms Royle, from Beverley, said: "You just can't really believe something like this can happen, and still to this day I've not had an explanation as to how and why it happened.
    "I spent two years believing I had cancer, went through all the treatment, and then was told there had been no cancer at all."
    "You'd think the immediate emotion would be relief and, in some sense, it was - but I'd say the greater emotions were frustration and anger."
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 18 October 2023
  15. Patient Safety Learning
    A hospital trust has dismissed three members of staff following complaints of sexual harassment.
    The sackings by University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) NHS Trust were revealed at the launch of its sexual safety charter on Monday.
    Sexual safety was one of the areas highlighted in a review of the trust's culture.
    UHB said sexism, misogyny and sexual harassment would not be tolerated in the workplace.
    The trust has been subject to three enquiries following a BBC investigation into its culture.
    The second of these investigations, by Prof Mike Bewick, identified a new line of inquiry into allegations of misogynistic behaviour and sexual harassment.
    Prof Bewick said the trust had begun formal investigations and there was a widening of the scope of the enquiry to accommodate the sensitive nature of these concerns.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 19 October 2023
  16. Patient Safety Learning
    Almost two-thirds of maternity units provide dangerously substandard care that puts women and babies at risk, the NHS watchdog has said in a damning report.
    The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated 65% of maternity services in England as either “inadequate” or “requires improvement” for the safety of care – up from 54% last year.
    Services are beset by a host of problems, including serious staff shortages and internal tensions, which mean that too many mothers and their babies receive care that is not good enough, it said.
    Women too often face delays in accessing care, do not receive the one-to-one care from a midwife to which they are entitled or experience communication problems with staff looking after them, including being shouted at by midwives.
    The CQC judged overall quality of care to be inadequate or require improvement at 85 maternity units, almost as many at which it rated it to be either good or outstanding – 87. The number of units offering substandard care has soared by 30 in the last year, from 55 to 85.
    It said that, having inspected 73% of all maternity units, “the overarching picture is one of a service and staff under huge pressure. People have described staff going above and beyond for women and other people using maternity services and their families in the face of this pressure.
    “However, many are still not receiving the safe, high-quality care that they deserve.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 20 October 2023
  17. Patient Safety Learning
    The boss of Britain’s biggest medicines courier has been told to urgently improve its complaints system by the NHS ombudsman amid concerns patients let down by missing deliveries are repeatedly ignored.
    In a highly unusual development, Darryn Gibson, the chief executive of Sciensus, has received a written warning from Rob Behrens, the parliamentary and health service ombudsman (PHSO). It says patients “should not be ignored” and must be “listened to and taken seriously” or he will consider taking further action.
    The PHSO investigates complaints that have not been resolved by the NHS or by private providers of NHS care. Sciensus is the single largest provider of homecare medicines services to the NHS and has contracts worth millions of pounds.
    In an email seen by the Guardian, Behrens told Gibson he had been unable to investigate most reports received about Sciensus because patients had not been able to complete the company’s complaints process. “That is not acceptable or fair to complainants,” Behrens wrote.
    In a statement, Sciensus said it worked “very hard” to ensure NHS patients received their medicines on time. Its services had “a 95% satisfaction rating”, it added.
    The move follows a Guardian investigation that exposed how Sciensus put NHS patients at risk of harm with delayed, missed or botched deliveries of medicines for conditions including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, dementia and HIV.
    It also uncovered how patients’ alarm at vital drugs and medical devices not arriving at their home was often compounded by a struggle to reach Sciensus to complain and fix the problems.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 19 October 2023
  18. Patient Safety Learning
    Children are waiting years for autism and cerebral palsy treatments as NHS leaders accuse the government of ignoring warnings of a crisis in community care.
    The number of patients waiting for NHS community services hit more than one million in August and a new analysis has revealed one in five of those patients are children. 
    The waits are so bad in some areas of England that a 12-year-old needing treatment might not get it until they are 16, the NHS Community Services Network warned.
    The analysis, by NHS Confederation and NHS Providers, also found 34,000 children have been waiting more than 18 weeks for diagnosis and care, which is the maximum time anyone should be waiting, with the backlogs growing quickly in spinal and eye care.
    Matthew Taylor, chief executive for NHS Confederation, which represents hospitals, community service providers and primary care, told The Independent that long waits can impact children more severely than adults because delays in treatment can have a knock-on effect on communication skills, social development and educational as well as mental wellbeing.
    “We have a real and growing problem with long waits in community services, but despite repeated warnings that neglect of these vital services is having a detrimental impact on patients, these warnings seem to be met with a shoulder shrug from the government. Leaders are working incredibly hard to deliver these important services for patients but are fighting a rising tide and need help,” he said.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 20 October 2023
  19. Patient Safety Learning
    Lessons still have not been learned at a Kent hospital trust which was criticised in a damning report, a mother has said.
    Dr Bill Kirkup's review found at least 45 babies might have survived with better care at East Kent NHS hospitals.
    Victoria, whose six-year-old daughter needs 24-hour support, said: "I've had no contact from anyone from the trust."
    Her case was one of 202 that were examined by Dr Kirkup in his report, which was published exactly a year ago.
    Victoria, whose daughter is living with the consequences of failings in her care during her birth, said: "Our children have become unwell because of what has happened to them.
    "I don't feel lessons have been learned whatsoever.
    "Treatment hadn't been made available as easily as it should have done for children that are still living this experience every day."
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 19 October 2023
  20. Patient Safety Learning
    An employment and equality lawyer will lead investigations into claims of racism, sexism and toxic culture at the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
    The nursing regulator has appointed Ijeoma Omambala KC to review claims that fitness to practise cases have been mishandled, especially those involving racism, discrimination, sexual misconduct and child protection. She will lead a concurrent investigation into how complaints about allegations were handled.
    "I’m sorry anyone has concerns about our culture, and the regulatory decisions we take. We’re committed to a rigorous, transparent and independent response".
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: Nursing Standard, 17 October 2023
  21. Patient Safety Learning
    Eighteen more hospitals in England contain potentially crumbling concrete, bring the total affected to 42, the Department of Health and Social Care has confirmed.
    The reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) has also been found in 214 schools and colleges in England as well as thousands of other buildings.
    NHS Providers, which represents hospitals, said the concrete "puts patients and staff at risk".
    Full structural surveys are taking place at all newly confirmed sites.
    The government said it was committed to eradicating Raac from NHS buildings completely by 2035.
    Seven of the worst-affected hospitals will be replaced by 2030 as part of the programme to build 40 new hospitals in England, it added.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 21 October 2023
  22. Patient Safety Learning
    You might not have heard of a ‘physician associate’ - and that’s not your fault. They probably won’t tell you. A physician associate walks and talks like a doctor, but they are no replacement for one.
    To become a physician associate you need to complete a two-year postgraduate course or three-year apprenticeship. But despite much less learning than the five years a junior doctor must undergo to be qualified, they are often paid more than them.
    Which is why the government’s plan to flood the NHS with 10,000 more of them over the next 15 years doesn’t make any sense. There’s certainly no money-saving aspect. This is simply another corner-cutting exercise to quickly plug gaps in a struggling NHS that will put patients at risk.
    Far from saving doctors work (their original purpose), they often create more. Physician associates are unregulated so cannot be held accountable for their mistakes, meaning doctors must recheck any critical decisions they make. Critical decisions are made quite frequently in hospitals.
    But they’re not just overstretching doctors and creating more work; they’re harming patients. A recent Daily Mail investigation has found brain bleeds misdiagnosed as inconsequential headaches and lung disease mistaken for a chest infection.
    Doctors say they are “increasingly concerned” by this.
    Read full story
    Source: LBC, 16 October 2023
  23. Patient Safety Learning
    The Health and Social Care Select Committee have commissioned an Expert Panel to consider the Government’s progress against accepted recommendations from public inquiries and reviews on patient safety.
    The Panel will consider a range of recommendations made by public inquiries and reviews on both patient safety and whistleblowing and subsequently select a number of these for evaluation. The Panel will in its final report provide a rating of the Government’s progress against each of these recommendations.
    Panel members are:
    Professor Dame Jane Dacre (Chair). Sir Robert Francis KC Anita Charlesworth Professor Stephen Peckham Sir David Pearson Professor Emma Cave Read full story
    Source: House of Commons Health and Social Care Select Committee, 24 October 2023
  24. Patient Safety Learning
    Sepsis is still killing too many patients due to the same hospital failings that occurred a decade ago, a damning report by the NHS ombudsman has warned.
    Avoidable mistakes include delays in spotting and treating the condition, poor communication between health staff, sub-standard record keeping and missed opportunities for follow-up care, according to Rob Behrens, the parliamentary and health service ombudsman (PHSO).
    Despite some progress since a previous report on sepsis by the ombudsman in 2013, lessons are not being learned and repeated mistakes are putting people at risk, Behrens said. Major improvements are urgently needed to avoid more fatalities, he added.
    “I’ve heard some harrowing stories about sepsis through our investigations, and it frustrates and saddens me that the same mistakes we highlighted 10 years ago are still occurring,” said Behrens. “It is clear that lessons are not being learned. Losing a life through sepsis should not be an inevitability.”
    Melissa Mead, whose one-year-old son, William, died from sepsis in 2014 after concerns were dismissed by doctors, said: “I think this report, nine years on from William’s death, really lays bare the incidences of sepsis cases.”
    Mead, who peer-reviewed the study, added: “Too many lives are being lost in preventable circumstances.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 25 October 2023
    Further reading on the hub:
    Top picks: Six resources about sepsis
  25. Patient Safety Learning
    The medical regulator has told NHS England to ‘directly tackle’ a perception there is a plan to replace doctors with physician associates amid an ‘intense’ debate about their future.
    General Medical Council chief executive Charlie Massey wants NHS England and health systems in the devolved nations to address several issues surrounding the expansion of medical associate roles.
    This follows intense debate over recent weeks, including multiple media reports of safety incidents where the involvement of physicians and anaesthesia associates has been questioned. The debate has been partially prompted by ambitions in the long-term workforce plan to increase their numbers, and the impact this would have on post-graduate medical training.
    Last week almost 90% cent of Royal College of Anaesthetists members voted to pause the rollout of anaesthesia associates, after an extraordinary general meeting. This prompted NHSE leaders to stress to trusts that associates should be working within established guidelines and have appropriate supervision.
    In response, Mr Massey has written to NHSE, calling for it to: “Directly tackle the perception that there is a plan for the health services to ‘replace’ doctors with PAs or AAs by convening and leading a system-wide discussion on an agreed vision for these roles.”
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 25 October 2023
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