Should we know the qualifications of the person who is treating us?

They were first introduced in the UK in 2003! 😯

To add insult to injury, PAs are paid more than Junior doctors

That is an insult
And just ridiculous!!
Presumably more than newly qualified nurses too, who have undergone three years of training to degree level.

Whose idea was this? I hope it's short lived.

nexus63

i am a patient that doctors don't like because i ask questions, i have been in hospital 12 times in 8 years starting with bowel cancer, i have a fear of needles, but 6 months to live without the operation means hospital, they gave me cream to numb the area for blood tests and cannulas but one doctor would ignore it, after the second time i refused to allow him to treat me. i always ask what is in the drips and what are the tablets they want me to take, i am not difficult or cheeky with the staff, i respect them, but i feel i have the right to know what they are doing, people make mistakes and we hear about it more and more, my late partner almost overdosed because a nurse gave him all 8 of his heavy duty painkillers after me saying he takes 2 every 4 hours, the staff nurse came and said sorry and explained the nurses english was not very good. everyone needs to be treated with someone who knows what they are doing.

Absolutely true dat!

I always put as "I'm the one that is living in this body - so I am the one best able to say what it feels like/how it reacts to things etc".

As for the grasp of language - it was a British person that was the podiatrist that treated me at one point. But she mixed-up the word "Lanacane" (which I am allergic to) with "Lidocaine" that I am not allergic to (which is the local anaesthetic often used for foot procedures) and she had a right row with me and even called me names!!!!!! At which point I realised she must be "first language Welsh" as it's called in this Welsh-speaking part of Wales I am in now - and I now get a very expensive taxi to a bigger town and use a guy who is "first language English" - because he is English. I need someone who speaks English as well as I do - because they are English too. I do run what checks I can on everyone else in case they don't these days....and I couldnt care less what nationality they are in this respect - but they must speak as perfect English as I do....

To add insult to injury, PAs are paid more than Junior doctors

According to Chatgtp:

PAs start on £43,742 pa rising to just over £50,000

Junior Doctors

FY1 about £33,000 pa

Fy2 about £38,000 pa

Both these FY grades have full medical duties from day 1

PAs Are legally restricted in what they can do.

I can see why Junior Doctors are unhappy with their pay...

I find this situation rather similar to the controversy about the duties and responsibilities of Cover Supervisors as opposed to teachers when the CS's were first introduced.

I don't approve of either role...

i am a patient that doctors don't like because i ask questions, i have been in hospital 12 times in 8 years starting with bowel cancer, i have a fear of needles, but 6 months to live without the operation means hospital, they gave me cream to numb the area for blood tests and cannulas but one doctor would ignore it, after the second time i refused to allow him to treat me. i always ask what is in the drips and what are the tablets they want me to take, i am not difficult or cheeky with the staff, i respect them, but i feel i have the right to know what they are doing, people make mistakes and we hear about it more and more, my late partner almost overdosed because a nurse gave him all 8 of his heavy duty painkillers after me saying he takes 2 every 4 hours, the staff nurse came and said sorry and explained the nurses english was not very good. everyone needs to be treated with someone who knows what they are doing.

There are plenty of newly qualified Dtrs available,it is not true there isn't any around. The thing is P As are cheaper for the GP Practices to employ and General practices are run like a business .
I always ask if the person i have an appt with is a Dtr as i would not want to see a PA. I am surprised the qualified GPs who took 7 yrs training are happy about this..

nanna8

I have never heard of physician associates. Maybe we don’t have them in Australia, I don’t know. I can’t imagine our doctors accepting anything like that.

(Just looked it up - apparently they trialled them but they are not generally used here, a lot of opposition from doctors. )

That is because the young British doctors are getting jobs in Australia because physician associates are taking their jobs here

Fairislecable

I was diagnosed with high blood pressure by a PA and had to go back to the Drs to discuss medication but this could only be with a PA.

Luckily I checked into the staff listed on the health centre website and could see that one of the Assistants was a pharmacist graduate. He was so helpful and knew in depth the pros and cons of each medication. He also had time to discuss what would be best for my particular set of problems.

This is the best use of PAs.

A pharmacist in a GP surgery is not an associate but an expert in the drug treatment, often able to prescribe but will tend not to diagnose especially at first visit.
Sometimes (like in hospital) the GP will ask the pharmacist for advice as to specifics on treatment and what can be added to existing medication.

M0nica

PAs are more nursing assistants than physician's assistants. Faced with one I would ask politely if I could be seen by a nurse, as she is better trained.

They aren’t, they are specifically trained to do elements of a doctor’s role rather than tasks undertaken by nurses. Nurses can apply to undertake the postgraduate physician’s assistant course if they wish though.

I was treated in A&E by a young lady who told me that she had been there a week, and had worked in Poundstretcher the week before. It was simply that I had something in my eye and needed a water wash, but still.....

PAs are more nursing assistants than physician's assistants. Faced with one I would ask politely if I could be seen by a nurse, as she is better trained.

I do not post here, but always read comments. NEVER have treatment from people not fully qualified. I was offered physio treatment by nhs for what they said was a simple shoulder problem, after a year that nothing improved but actually got worse I was dismissed from the unit.

After 6 months and a visit and X-ray with a professional I was told that I had the worst arthritic shoulder seen for a long time.
and needed surgery.

My message is, NEVER have physio before an X-ray with a fully qualified person. It

I was misdiagnosed by a qualified doctor in A&E and nearly died of sepsis as a result

As I understand it the new system will only allow a PA to treat once a doctor has diagnosed.

Astitchintime

Does this extend to HCA’s then……some of whom are qualified in phlebotomy and cannulation but not all of them are. Do we ask “are you trained to do that” when they approach us with the necessary equipment?

I get so annoyed at our surgery when they describe the healthcare assistant as “the nurse”’. She hasn’t undergone any nurse training and had no nurse qualifications. I had a tricky experience with one when she changed my late husband’s complex wound dressing. She had not a clue. We were told we were seeing “the nurse” 🙄.

Very often the name badge is the wrong way round, obscured or not even being worn and tbh I don't like to ask. My late DH had regular NHS podiatry appts and the clinic rooms all had a notice saying the person seeing you should introduce themselves although most of them we knew.

Even if you know the qualifications do you ever actually question the advice given? surely you need to write down questions you need to ask the person treating you and then ask if there are alternatives ?what are the side effects?
it was suggested that i needed a hysterectomy but after researching the procedure, I found it would not be the solution. The other consultant agreed
just because somebody has a "white coat" or sits behind a desk it does not mean that the advice given is the only option

How about everyone learning that PAs HCAs cats doctors and any other word or abbreviation does not have an apostrophe unless it's a possessive noun or a letter is omitted (such as its/it is, we're/we are)
The level of grammar and spelling from adults who are of an age when the emphasis on language in their educational years was much more pronounced, is poor.

HCAs

We absolutely need to know who we are talking to, and although many PA’s are very good in their role, I would not expect a qualified PA to have as broad a knowledge base as a very experienced and qualified GP.

When I was a registered nurse in both a hospital and the community we were very clear what our roles were and always introduced ourselves as such. It was much safer for everyone that way, including staff who would be protected from others expecting them to have the knowledge and experience of a different staff group.

It’s been suggested that the name Physician Associate is confusing, and could/should be changed, which I agree with.

Yes we should be told. All the names and titles of all of the staff should be on a board in the surgery office for all to read.

SNEAKING, THEIR, PAs (no apostrophe)
No proper punctuation either.
I wonder what your write-ups are like.

Yes we should, but not only in the NHS and other recognized fields of medicine. We should also know about the qualifications of counselors and also those who provide 'alternative' medicine. We should also see qualifications standardized monitored and policed for all providers of therapies including massage, Botox, lip fillers, tattoo and pircings and all kinds of treatments of a physical nature.

I believe misdiagnosis by physician associates hastened my husbands death and certainly caused in pain and difficulty in his final months

Yes of course we should be able to ask. I was treated by someone who was called "doctor" but during a conversation she was on her last year elective student doctor in a GP surgery. She saw me but had to refer to a qualified GP.