Today I learnt that saying only people with a medical degree should work on doctors’ rotas is an extreme, polarising view 👀
Which is weird because I always thought that should be blatant common sense…
…or else what’s the point of medschool?
🤷♂️
Half of NHS trusts admitted to using ACPs to cover doctor rota gaps. ‘Scope’ violation reports are in the hundreds now. It’s becoming universal
At what point does ‘misuse’ and ‘inappropriate deployment’ stop being the convenient excuse? You can keep pointing at the job description, but patients are not seeing the ACP, as described by the job description, they're being treated inappropriately by an ACP occupying a role on a rota that they have no business being on.
Completely out of their depth.
By definition they quite literally were created to fill gaps caused by a lack of doctors. You’re approaching this with tunnel vision, you are struggling to see the larger picture. If not for substitution why would these roles exist? What is so special about these roles? The NHS doesn’t do ‘additive’ especially when they already struggle to fill the basic roles of doctors + allied health professionals. ‘We can’t afford anymore doctors or physios but let’s get a few ACPs to enhance the team’ don’t be ridiculous.
But yes unfortunately I think you are right. These roles are more embedded. I think a leng style ‘deletion’ is virtually impossible at this point. These roles are essential to the NHS now, not because they particularly add anything or are effective but because rather than appropriate scaling of medical training these roles have been used a ‘quick fix’ they’ve effectively become important because politicians and healthcare leaders have allowed the gap they fill to grow and grow and grow.
Ultimately it’s the poor patients that suffer.
@letsgohomed@JanetEastham Leng said they shouldn’t be used as doctor substitutes on a rota. PCN PA numbers have been falling for nearly two years. They were hired as cheap substitutes and then Leng took that away, effectively making them redundant. I envision a similar future for the ACP crowd. 🙀
@letsgohomed@JanetEastham Would the leng review have been commissioned if it wasn’t for the BMA and its campaigners?.
Patient safety comes before any role or professional group. I personally think if ACPs were demonstrating professionalism they would be welcoming this scrutiny.
@letsgohomed@JanetEastham Well it’s not exactly going to come from the nurses union is it?
If ACPs feel that they are above reproach and that their role can survive scrutiny surely it shouldn’t bother them?
What is it about the arrogance of some skyscrapers, including some still being built, that they genuinely seem to believe they are better at being skyscrapers than other buildings?
Well… they are.
They were built on completely different foundations, with different engineering, materials and design specifically to be skyscrapers.
A house can be an excellent house. But you wouldn’t expect it to know how to design, build or safely support the floors of a skyscraper.
So why would we expect every healthcare professional to have the same foundational knowledge in anatomy, physiology, pathology, microbiology and pharmacology as someone specifically trained to practise medicine?
I’ve always been uncomfortable talking about my own experiences. But it’s too important to ignore how I was treated by NHS trusts after raising serious concerns about patient-safety from Noctors.
Those experiences culminated in this book.
Noctor, Noctor is my evidence-based account of how we got here, why so many are afraid to speak out, and what must change!
Pre-order: https://t.co/e6wMLW6HsW
@brittlish@SkyNews Striking is the last thing anybody wants to do. Your issue isn’t with doctors you should redirect your frustration to the people making the decisions that cause the burnout, and create the conditions that push doctors away and reduce quality of care.
@Cartermill65675 @BMA_James_Steen And… you’re going to love this!
Hear me out. If people never got sick, we wouldn’t need a health service at all would we. 😱
The platforms most obtuse account award goes to… @cartermill65675 😀
@Peter_POSH@SkyNews Cite it then.
And even if risk increases… is it the strike, or trusts failing to enact adequate contingency plans. Which part of the sequence actually presents the ‘risk’ to patients?
OPEL framework exists precisely for this.