The money lost to profiteering from the pandemic should be recovered for the NHS, the Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) told national radio listeners.

Dr Steve Taylor, DAUK spokesperson, said doctors were angry that people made excessive profit at a time of national emergency through the sale of PPE at inflated prices and that did not meet medical requirements.

Dr Taylor, a GP based in Manchester, was speaking to LBC News over the developing PPE scandal.

He said: “I can’t believe the mess we’re in. We’ve lost so much money as a result of all of this.

“I think back to 2020, when I was busy trying to rescue patients from Covid with very limited PPE at the time, the thought that anyone would actually make a profit out of it – it was a national emergency.”

He added: “Companies went out of the way to provide PPE and actually that PPE was inadequate, and that’s a big issue.

“As doctors, we’re all a bit angry.

“We’re angry at the amount of money that’s currently needed in the NHS and has been lost. This was the NHS budget fundamentally.”

Dr Taylor told LBC News listeners that following the ongoing Covid Inquiry changes should be made that prevent profiteering from national emergencies.

And he said that the money “lost” to profiteering should be recovered for the NHS.

“Fundamentally we haven’t got enough money to run the NHS at the moment and that money is in the hands of some very wealthy people,” he said.

“They made a profit at a time of emergency when we were all fighting for the health of the nation.

“It hasn’t disappeared. Most of the money that very wealthy people have isn’t suddenly spent – most of them struggle to spend it because they’ve got too much.”

Listen again to Dr Taylor talking to LBC News. The interview starts at around two hours and 32 minutes.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) warned in its Health Effects of Climate Change report there could be up to 10,000 extra deaths a year by the 2050s, rising to 21,500 in the 2070s, as a result of extreme heat and tropical diseases.

The report highlights that the NHS must be prepared for frequently encountering tropical infectious diseases by the 2060s due to the migration of mosquitos, including Dengue fever and West Nile virus. 

The health of the UK population is also under threat from flooding, food insecurity and dramatic rises in cost of living, alongside a worsening epidemic of mental health conditions, the report warned.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has previously said that many areas of the world may become inhospitable due to the climate crisis and countries such as the UK may experience the pressure of thousands of climate refugees seeking a safer climate.

Dr Matthew Lee, DAUK’s sustainability lead, welcomed the report and called for urgent legislative action from the Government 

Dr Lee said: “The NHS is simply not prepared for such an influx of illness.

“We already have record waiting times and the acute nature of the extreme weather events will eventually cause an annual summer peak of admissions as well as a winter crisis.

“Staff have already reached their limits with burnout and the NHS will not survive the climate crisis if urgent action is not taken now. 

“Many of the changes that individuals can make, such as eating less meat and doing more active travel can have positive health and environmental effects.

“Time, however, is not on our side and we need the current Government and every political party to treat this with the same scale of action and urgency as seen with the COVID-19 pandemic response in order to have a chance of securing a safe and liveable future.”

DAUK is an advocate for the Climate and Ecology Bill which would be a critical piece of legislation that protects nature, our closest ally in the fight against the climate crisis.

DAUK also strongly believes that there should be no new fossil fuel projects, and that all existing fossil fuel projects in the UK should be phased out as soon as feasibly possible.

Read the UKHSA’s Effects of Climate Change report.

Home Secretary James Cleverly has announced:

• A ban on health and care workers bringing family dependants to the UK
• A hike in the minimum salary required for skilled workers from overseas from £26,200 to £38,700 from spring
• More than doubling the minimum income required for family visas from £18,600 to £38,700 from spring
• The scrapping of the shortage occupation list and employers being able to pay workers 20% below the going rate for jobs 
• A review of the graduate immigration route by the Migration Advisory Committee.

Dr Pushpo Hossain, DAUK’s international medical graduate (IMG) lead, said: “We have a huge number of vacancies in our National Health Service and immigration is delivering vital care to people who need it.

“The plans announced by the Government are cruel and inhumane and will only make the staffing crisis in the NHS even worse.

“We’re not training enough healthcare staff as it is, and we’re not retaining enough either with UK-trained staff already leaving in their droves because of pay and working conditions.

“This announcement will make it even harder for the migration of health workers to the UK, decimating recruitment and placing an even greater strain on the NHS.

“The current pay scale for many doctors and nurses wouldn’t meet the minimum salary threshold. Why would anyone work in a system that’s underpaid, understaffed and overstretched and accept they won’t be able to bring their families to be with them and to help them decompress at the end of a gruelling shift?

“It will also destroy family lives, causing misery for many people working in the NHS and could force them to leave.

“It will not only affect healthcare workers who were planning to come to the UK, but also the morale of IMGs, like myself, who feel targeted by inflammatory statements towards International healthcare professionals from this Government.”

“In short, the essence of the plan is a systematic destruction of the NHS.”

More than 2,800 doctors have signed a letter to the General Medical Council (GMC) over fears the proposed regulation of physician associates (PAs) will undermine healthcare standards and put patients’ safety at risk.

Published today (Tuesday 31 October), the letter from the Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) urged the GMC to reconsider the plans, describing them as “unsafe, premature, and lacking the necessary safeguards”.

DAUK said the GMC needed to address “the inconsistency between the stringent requirements” for doctors to be regulated and the proposed transition for PAs and anaesthesia associates (AAs), which will see them “moved to a statutory GMC register without undergoing equally rigorous checks”.

In their open letter, DAUK co-chairs Dr Matt Kneale and Ms Helen Fernandes said proposals to assign PAs and AAs with a registration number similar to those used for medical doctors risked creating “unnecessary confusion” and “muddling the distinct roles of various healthcare professionals”.

“This ambiguity could inadvertently foster scope creep, putting patients at risk due to uncertainty about practitioners’ qualifications,” they said.

“Furthermore, the absence of a clearly defined scope of practice for PAs and AAs, set by the GMC, is alarming.

“Allowing local settings to establish these boundaries could lead to further confusion and possible exploitation of both doctors and PAs, as well as compromise patient safety.”

Commenting on the letter, Dr Kneale said: “The urgency and seriousness of this situation can’t be understated.“

“The rapid move to incorporate PAs and AAs into the GMC’s regulatory oversight not only jeopardises public safety but also undermines their trust in the system.“

“The resounding support of 2,870 healthcare professionals speaks volumes about the pervasive concern within the medical profession.”

“We need a complete reexamination of a flawed system that has lost the confidence of many.”

The DAUK has set out four recommendations in its letter:

• The GMC should immediately inform the Government about the growing discontent and advocate for reopening the consultation process with the Department of Health and Social Care
• If the regulation of PAs by the GMC goes ahead, distinct GMC numbers should be allocated to PAs to distinguish them from medical doctors
• All PAs transferring from the voluntary Royal College of Physicians register to the GMC’s statutory register must undergo thorough verification and checks, especially with regard to Fitness to Practise procedures
• The GMC must establish a clearly defined scope of practice for PAs and AAs, eliminating the option for these to be set locally.

Dr Kneale added: “We urge the GMC to immediately address these critical issues, maintain the high healthcare standards the public rightly demands, and request that the Department of Health and Social Care put the brakes on the issue and reopen the consultation on physician associates and anaesthesia associates regulation.”

Read the DAUK letter in full.

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Notes to editors

The Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) is the voice of frontline doctors. It’s a non-profit professional association run by volunteer NHS doctors which advocates for the medical profession and the wider NHS.

Contact:

For more information and interview requests, please contact Andy Mann on 07399 164557 or email press@dauk.org

The petition urges an independent regulator to be formed to hold NHS managers accountable for decisions affecting patient safety. Most managers are dedicated professionals, but some are not held responsible when their decisions negatively impact care. The petition highlights the recent Lucy Letby case, where multiple consultants raised concerns early but subsequently had their concerns dismissed without merit.

It has received the backing of one of the consultants at the centre of the Letby case at The Countess of Chester, Dr Ravi Jayaram who said:

“A corporate manslaughter charge against the Countess of Chester as an organisation might result in a large fine but this ultimately punishes the patients cared for there, whilst the individuals whose actions facilitated this situation face no sanctions and can continue to work on highly paid NHS executive posts.”

“There needs to be a system in place so that top-level NHS managers are subject to scrutiny through an independent professional regulatory body just as frontline healthcare professionals are regulated”.

Dr Matt Kneale, DAUK Co-Chair, said:

“We believe new accountability through regulation will improve NHS patient safety. Doctors and other healthcare professionals already answer to regulators if care quality drops — why do we not hold managers to the same standards when they control resources affecting care?”

The petition aims for regulation letting patients and families refer complaints about managers.

Dr. Matt Kneale went further saying:

“Managers must make difficult decisions on whistleblowing concerns, but shouldn’t escape responsibility for unsafe practices or outright neglect of concerns. Regulation would help to ensure transparency and accountability for those with such responsibility.”

DAUK believes that managerial regulation could improve care across the NHS and other healthcare providers.

The Doctors Association UK advocates for frontline doctors. It has launched a petition to create new laws regulating healthcare managers via an independent body. DAUK believes this will make managers more accountable for patient safety impacts from their decisions.

View and sign our petition here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/642631

ENDS

Contact:

Lucy Stratton, DAUK

press@dauk.org

The chronic underfunding and understaffing of the NHS over the past decade has left it struggling to keep pace with demand even before the COVID-19 crisis hit. The Government’s plan to redirect patients to the independent sector is little more than a deflection from addressing the fundamental issues plaguing our health services.

We see some merit in collaborations between the NHS and the independent sector, but without robust regulation, these alliances risk becoming a breeding ground for mediocrity in education and training, and can jeopardise patient safety. Further, it establishes a precedent for privatisation of the NHS via the backdoor.

In a statement, Dr Matt Kneale, Co-chair of the DAUK, expressed his frustrations:

“This abdication of responsibility by the Government towards the NHS is troubling. We urge the Government to confront the core issues contributing to the elective backlog, through sustainable investments in the NHS workforce, infrastructure, and capacity. The need of the hour is an increased focus on training and retaining more doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals, with fair compensation for their dedication and hard work.”

Dr Matt Kneale, Co-chair

It is DAUK’s view that without a comprehensive review and overhaul of the NHS’s long-term workforce plan, outsourcing more care could lead to an economic burden on taxpayers, with a risk of spiralling costs in the future. The Government must stop taking the easy way out and instead equip the NHS with the resources and manpower it urgently needs to reduce waiting times sustainably.

END

For further information or comment, please email press@dauk.org

The Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) was deeply unsettled to hear about the recent, devastating case of patient mortality that ensued following a missed diagnosis by a Physician Associate (PA). This unfortunate event underscores the critical necessity of clear differentiation in healthcare roles, and paramount awareness on the part of the patient about their treating practitioner’s qualifications. Our condolences go out to Emily Chesterton’s friends and family at this immensely difficult time.

Committed to a just working culture, DAUK focuses on examining the systems within which errors occur in order to enhance patient safety. In recent years, there has been a huge increase in the number of different types of clinicians working across the NHS, but particularly in general practice. General practice is a very demanding specialty, seeing a new undifferentiated problem every 10-15 minutes. Most are benign, but some are life threatening and separating these cases out, using clinical acumen, is a key skill for working in GP.

It is our view that it is not safe for the UK government to utilise any alternative healthcare provider as replacements for fully trained doctors. There is a role for allied professionals within healthcare but not at the expense of medical expertise.

Physicians Associates (PAs), while holding an important place within the NHS infrastructure, do not undergo the extensive, rigorous training nor accumulate the depth of experience that defines a doctor’s professional capacity. It is imprudent and potentially hazardous to use PAs as replacements for doctors in clinical environments. In light of this, we support calls for the title to revert back to “Physician Assistant” and insist on their consistent supervision, either direct or indirect, due to the limitations of their knowledge, time, and expertise for independent practice.

It is our belief that titles such as “Physician Associate” create misleading impressions for patients, potentially conflating the distinct professional roles of PAs and doctors. This could engender patient decisions built on misinformation, adversely affecting their healthcare journey. Similar, yet distinct, arguments can be made for Allied Health Professionals using the term ‘Consultant’.

DAUK proposes that all healthcare providers should be required to have complete transparency regarding their professional titles, qualifications, and experience during consultations. Patients should not only be informed but also encouraged to raise queries about their treatment procedures and the professionals responsible for them.

Further, DAUK urges the government to take necessary steps to reinforce the unequivocal understanding of non-doctor roles amongst patients, and mandate the disclosure of professional titles and qualifications in all consultations. We also advocate for the immediate, stringent regulation of both the medical apprenticeship model and Physician Assistants, ensuring explicit awareness among patients of their treatment by a student doctor or PA.It is our conviction that these measures are indispensable to safeguard patient welfare and ensure the delivery of the highest quality of care.

Dr Matt Kneale, DAUK Co-Chair, said:

“Rooted in our core principle of ‘Learn Not Blame’, we stand firm on the importance of drawing insights from missteps, thereby enhancing patient safety. The case in question resonates with the crucial need for greater public understanding of non-doctor roles, ensuring patients are well-informed about where their treatment is coming from. We hope that this statement helps to illuminate these issues, and foster improvements in patient safety norms.”

DAUK are delighted to see that Dr Jenny Vaughan has been honoured with an OBE in the King’s New year’s honours list. Her work has centred around highlighting the importance of a ‘Just Culture’ within the NHS, in the wake of what happened to Mr David Sellu and Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba. Between 2013-2016 she led David’s ultimately successful appeal against conviction for gross negligence manslaughter at a time when cases were rising against healthcare workers. She was instrumental, with others, in drawing national and international attention to the injustice of what happened to Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba and calling for a fairer analysis of the whole system rather than making scapegoats of vulnerable individuals.

More recently she has worked to assist many more healthcare workers who have fallen victim to injustice in the NHS, especially those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic  backgrounds, such as Dr Manjula Arora. She has also drawn attention to the plight of international medical graduates working for private locum agencies in unfair conditions. Much of this work has been done as part of the team at the Doctor’s Association UK and is continuing. If you would like to support our work please do consider becoming a member of DAUK https://www.dauk.org/membership/

Dr Vaughan said today:

“I am truly humbled and grateful that our work on ‘Just Culture’ which is so important has been recognised. I accept this award on behalf of my whole team. This includes all of those who supported the journey to overturn what happened to both David and Hadiza and those who have supported our more recent work on seeking basic standards of fairness in the workplace for international medical graduates and anyone under unfair sanction. Our ‘Learn Not Blame’ campaign calls for renewal of the core values in the NHS that promote learning from adverse events and prioritise fairness, openness and the wellbeing of both patients and health care professionals.  It seeks to empower everyone working in healthcare to do what they can within their own sphere of influence to ensure a better NHS to work in and one that is also better for patients. Everybody recognises that a just culture is what we should be achieving in the NHS.”

Dr Jenny Vaughan

Grassroots lobbying group Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) argues the current system is unsustainable and does not give GPs enough flexibility on how and where they spend allocated budgets.

It said their hands are tied, as their funding is directed by NHS England though primary care networks (PCNs) – GP practices working together with community, mental health, social care, pharmacy, hospital and voluntary services in their local area – with strict budget criteria.

The association is concerned that GP practices are not able to spend the money on extra doctors where they are needed. Its warning comes as a report published this week warned that up to half of GP posts could be vacant by the end of the decade.

Dr Lizzie Toberty, GP lead at DAUK, said: “Money that comes down from NHS England via the PCNs is very tightly controlled. It is not for GPs, nurses or new buildings, but only for other allied healthcare professionals. We’re told how much we can spend on a social prescriber or a pharmacist, but that might not be what your area needs.

“Areas within a one mile radius, never mind the whole of England, can have extremely different health population needs. Trying to stipulate from NHSE head office which type of staff can be employed in rural Lincolnshire or inner city Sunderland is ridiculous, yet it is what is happening. It’s extremely problematic.

“I’m concerned that non-doctor staff may not be able to perform GP roles to the same level of quality and effectiveness. Yes physician associates can have their role, and they are welcome additions to our over stretched teams, but as our patients are becoming more complex, you need doctors with breadth of training and experience in order to manage multiple conditions simultaneously.”

read the full article here