15th July 2025

‘Physician associates should not triage patients’
A review recommends physician associates should –
1. be renamed “physician assistants” to reflect their supportive role,
2. not see new patients in primary or secondary care or make diagnosis,
3. have at least 2 years’ hospital experience before working in a surgery or mental health trust,
4. be part of a team led by a senior doctor,
5. wear badges, lanyards and clothing to set them apart from doctors.

Buy now, pay triple later
Under Labour’s 10 Year Plan PFI (private finance intiative) is set to return – what utter madness! See what parliament’s Public Accounts Committee says about PFI. Yet now Streeting is proposing to use PFI to fund his Neighbourhood Health Centres. Further, where is the staffing for NHCs coming from?

But the BMA has criticisms of the review
“The review fails to fully protect patients.” It should “end the postcode lottery of what PAs can and can’t do. By failing to recommend …. nationally agreed scopes of practice [it] has ignored the most urgent demand of the medical profession, and left patients at the mercy of local decisions by employers.”

Palantir rejected by most trusts
For instance –
1. Manchester health authority “There are currently no products designed or produced by Palantir Technologies Inc. as part of the FDP programme that exceed the NHS Greater Manchester local capability.”
2. Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust  “.. adopting some of the tools on Palantir’s platform would lead it to ‘lose functionality rather than gain it'”.
3. Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust simply said it had “no plans to join the FDP programme”.