Health Secretary Wes Streeting was so eager to attack striking doctors during an appearance on Sky News that he admitted that he could have been providing more training for fully-qualified doctors since Labour got into power in July last year – but had been choosing not to:
Streeting hypocrisy
Instead, as doctors have pointed out, Streeting – who has accepted hundreds of thousands of pounds in donations from health privateers – has been increasing the number of pseudo-doctor ‘associates’, who have been unleashed on patients as part of his slash-and-burn ’10-year plan’ for the NHS. That’s in spite of the government knowing – via its own report – that using them is dangerous to patients. Several people have died needlessly as a result of misdiagnoses by associates filling what should be doctors’ places, without the victims ever knowing the person ‘treating’ them had not been a doctor.
So much so, that in 2023 the British Medical Association published the following:
The majority of doctors who took part in a UK-wide BMA survey believe that the way in which physician associates (PAs) or anaesthesia associates (AAs) work present a significant risk to patient safety.
As NHS activist ‘Anon Anaesthetist’ said when they published the clip:
The Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, indirectly admitted that he can increase specialty training posts for doctors, but instead chose to upskill physios, pharmacists, and podiatrists to look after your children in resus as ACPs by expanding the advanced practice [associate] workforce.
Featured image via YouTube screenshot/Sky News
