Physicians associates should not be diagnosing patients, leading doctors warn
manchestereveningnews.co.ukPhysicians associates should be banned from diagnosing patients, leading doctors have warned. It follows the death of a woman whose fatal blood clot was twice missed.
The British Medical Association (BMA) has published guidance outlining what it thinks the level of responsibility those in medical associate professions (MAPs), such as physician associates (PAs) and anaesthesia associates (AAs), should have.
It is hoped the document will "improve patient safety", the union said. MAPs were introduced to the NHS workforce in the early 2000s to bolster access to care for patients, but have faced increased scrutiny due to high profile mistakes. Join our WhatsApp Top Stories and Breaking News group by clicking this link One example is the death of 30-year-old Emily Chesterton, who was misdiagnosed by a PA twice before eventually dying of a blood clot in 2022.
In its guidance, the BMA said MAPs must not be responsible for initially assessing or diagnosing patients and must be closely supervised when seeing patients who have already seen a doctor.
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