Wes Streeting faces a fresh battle with a medical union, days after vowing he would not to give in to militant doctors striking over pay.
The Health Secretary could be hit with a judicial review over his decision to cut back use of physician associates (PAs) in the NHS.
Earlier this month, Mr Streeting and NHS England banned PAs, who have less extensive training than doctors, from seeing undiagnosed patients.
It came after an independent review recommended a serious narrowing of their scope of work.
Last night MPs warned the decision, combined with the five-day doctors’ strike, will leave patients more at risk and make it harder to clear backlogs. They claimed thousands of patients could miss appointments as a result.
On Friday, the United Medical Associate Professionals (UMAPs), the union which represents PAs, sent letters before action to Mr Streeting and NHS England.
Conservative MP Sir Ashley Fox said: ‘I’m worried the strikes might leave patients more at risk now the Health Secretary has pulled the rug from under physician and anaesthetist associates [AAs].’
‘There seems to be a lack of any long-term strategy from this Government, simply a perverse willingness to give the radical British Medical Association [which represents doctors] whatever they ask for with no strings attached.’
Wes Streeting faces a fresh battle with a medical union, days after vowing he would not to give in to militant doctors striking over pay
The strike could cause 250,000 NHS appointments to be axed or postponed and may cost the NHS £87million in staffing cover, according to think tank the Policy Exchange
Mr Streeting commissioned a review into how the 3,500 PAs in the NHS were being used, amid concerns they were inappropriately substituting doctors.
The review, led by president of the Royal Society of Medicine Professor Gillian Leng, acknowledged that PAs have been used to plug gaps on doctors’ rotas and called for major changes to how they work and are supervised.
She recommended that PAs should not see undifferentiated or untriaged patients – meaning those who have not yet been seen by a doctor.
UMAPs general secretary Stephen Nash said the decision to scale back their use was ‘totally unjustified and will only make it harder for patients to access NHS appointments and routine care’.
He added: ‘The Leng Review found no hard evidence that PAs are unsafe or ineffective. Yet the Secretary of State is changing the role beyond recognition, effectively resulting in the unfair dismissal of over 3,500 highly trained medical professionals.
‘Ironically, the Government has played right into the strikers’ hands, making their walk-out hit even harder while we are barred from carrying out the job we were trained to do.’
The pre-action letters, seen by The Mail on Sunday, said the Government’s decision had undermined the profession of PAs and AAs, made redundancies more likely and changed the terms of their employment without properly consulting them.
Resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, continued their strike yesterday, after Mr Streeting accused the BMA of using ‘hardline tactics’ that ‘punish patients for no good reason’ when the strikes began on Friday
Former health minister Lord Hunt said PAs ‘are highly trained, safe and effective. We shouldn’t sideline them when the NHS needs more support than ever before.’
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: ‘The Government launched this review to make sure patients get the highest quality care and have confidence in the health system.
‘Gillian Leng is one of the UK’s most experienced healthcare leaders. The Health Secretary has agreed to implement the recommendations of her report in full.’
Resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, continued their strike yesterday, after Mr Streeting accused the BMA of using ‘hardline tactics’ that ‘punish patients for no good reason’ when the strikes began on Friday.
Do more to make health tourists pay, MPs demand
By Jo Macfarlane
More must be done to recover millions of pounds owed to the NHS by foreign patients, senior MPs have told the Government.
After a Mail on Sunday probe found hospitals wrote off £256million owed by health tourists in just seven years, the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee has warned officials they face ‘scrutiny’ over the issue.
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown has asked the Department of Health and NHS England to clarify what they are doing to ensure care is ‘charged for and collected’.
He also demanded officials reveal progress made since the Government pledged in 2017 to recover £500million a year from foreign patients.
The MoS revealed in April that just a third of £621million owed has been paid, with £44million written off in the past year.
With the number of foreigners seeking planned treatment on the NHS having doubled, Sir Geoffrey said the importance of recovering the cash has ‘never been greater’.
