It follows the vote by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) to oppose the role of physician associates (PAs) working in general practice, which has been welcomed by DAUK’s GP Committee.

DAUK is proud to announce its robust support for Anaesthetists United in their legal case against the GMC, which addresses critical issues surrounding the regulation of PAs and AAs.

This backing includes a £30,000 contribution to their crowdfunding efforts, underscoring the medical profession’s deep-seated concerns over patient safety and professional standards.

Now it is calling on royal colleges to also give their support to the legal challenge.

Why DAUK supports this legal challenge

DAUK shares the grave concerns that the current regulatory framework fails to adequately safeguard patient safety and maintain the high standards of medical practice that the British public expects and deserves.

Ms Helen Fernandes, DAUK chair, said: “The GMC’s approach to regulating PAs and AAs is fundamentally flawed.

“It risks blurring the lines between fully qualified doctors and support staff, potentially misleading patients and compromising care quality.

“We categorically back Anaesthetists United in demanding clear, enforceable guidance on the scope of practice for these roles.”

United front

DAUK’s significant donation to the Anaesthetists United legal fund is not an isolated action but part of a broader united front in the medical community.

Recent events, including the Royal College of General Practitioners’ revised stance on PA regulation and the Emergency General Meeting at the Royal College of Physicians, demonstrate that concerns over these issues are widespread and deeply felt.

Dr Matt Kneale, DAUK committee member and former chair, said: “The strength of feeling across the medical profession cannot be overstated.

“These are not isolated incidents of discontent but a clear signal that the current trajectory of medical regulation and workforce planning is deeply troubling to those on the front lines of patient care.”

Call to action

In light of these developments, DAUK calls upon all royal colleges to take decisive action:

1. Contribute financially to the Anaesthetists United crowdfunding campaign.

2. Publicly back the medical profession’s stance on this critical issue.

3. Prioritise patient safety by advocating for standards to be set by the regulator, not by individual NHS trusts or GP practices.

Dr Kneale said: “The variation in standards across different healthcare settings has already led to concerning safety events.

“It’s time for our professional bodies to unite in demanding a consistent, high-quality approach to regulation that puts patient safety first.”

Dr David Nicholl, fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) and DAUK committee member, said: “As a former member of RCP Council, I would like to see the RCP backing this case.

“The RCP has already publicly stated that there should be national scope which the GMC are refusing to do.

“It’s time for all royal colleges to put their money where their mouth is and support this legal challenge against the GMC’s intransigence. This is about safe patient care.”

RCGP vote

Meanwhile, DAUK’s GP Committee has welcomed a vote by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) to oppose a role for physician associates (PAs) from working in general practice.

The RCGP’s UK Council voted 61 per cent in favour of opposing the role of PAs working in general practice, with 31 disagreeing and eight per cent abstaining.

Dr Ellen Welch, DAUK vice chair and member of the DAUK GP committee, said: “We agree with the RCGP Council’s decision to end the further expansion of PAs in general practice.

“This is not about PAs as individuals but about patient safety.

“They should not have been allowed to consult undifferentiated patients and, in our view, it was always unsafe for patients.

“The complexity of patient care, the needs of patients, and the safety of patient care must always be a priority.

“GPs are highly-skilled clinicians who have trained for 10 years to have the depth and breadth of knowledge essential to care for the complexity of patients seen in general practice.

“It is essential that patients are able to consult with GPs, therefore we urge NHS England and the Government to make the retention and recruitment of GPs a priority.”

Looking forward

DAUK remains committed to supporting initiatives that protect patients and the integrity of the medical profession. We will continue to monitor the progress of the Anaesthetists United case closely and are ready to take further action as necessary.

For more information on how to support this crucial legal challenge, please visit the Anaesthetists United CrowdJustice page.

Support the work of DAUK by signing up as a member.

A leading family doctor has warned there is a ‘real risk’ that doses of the Pfizervaccine could go to waste this week because of the Government’s last-minute change on the second jab.

Dame Clare Gerada, a former chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners and a practising GP, said the timing of the decision to delay the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine for the elderly from 21 days to 12 weeks was ‘wrong.’

She added that because of the difficulties in contacting about one million elderly people to cancel their second jab and arrange new appointments for others, many doses could be lost – spelling a ‘disaster.’

Her comments came as members of the Doctors’ Association described the decision to delay the dose as a ‘gamble’, which could dent public confidence in the entire vaccination programme.

Almost one million Britons, mostly in their 80s and older, were due to receive the booster dose over coming days. 

However on December 30, the Government’s Join Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation said that the second dose of the joint Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine would now be given 12 weeks after the first.

After a backlash from doctors, the British Medical Association has vowed to support GPs who decide to honour their January appointments. 

The change in policy is designed to ensure as many people as possible are offered some protection against Covid-19.

But Dame Clare told the Daily Mail: ‘There is a big possibility that vaccines could go to waste. It would be a disaster. 

Imagine if you have had 1,000 delivered and you are in a rural area and you are suddenly having to find a new 600 people to be vaccinated.’ 

She added that she agreed with the science behind the decision to postpone the second vaccine, but not the execution.

‘It’s a mess,’ she said. ‘I don’t think it’s wrong to try to give as many people the first vaccine as possible, but I do think announcing it late on the 30th …They could have delayed it a week. It would have been better to get the elderly back and done and dusted so we know they are safe.’

Read the article here: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9109315/Top-GP-warns-Boriss-U-turn-Covid-19-second-jab-cause-disastrous-waste-vaccine.html

“Adrian has recently been appointed as the media spokesperson for a fledging but already high-profile political lobbying group, The Doctors’ Association, providing the virtual organisation with a GP voice on issues such as Brexit, and the recent Bawa-Garba case.

“We’re an Independent, non-profit, non-partisan political lobbying group for doctors” . Adrian explains, “it was apparent that there was a desire for doctors to become more involved in political campaigning. The foundation of campaign groups nowadays are almost always on the internet and social media, it’s where we come together and have our dialogue. We don’t have a building or an office, we don’t have a pedigree of forefathers, we’ve started this on our own. We’re a small group based all over the country and conversations and planning are online.”

It was Adrian’s outspoken comments on Twitter in support of doctors and nurses at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital (following a high-profile High Court ruling in April) that brought him to the attention of DAUK founder Dr Sammy Batt-Rawden.

“The Alder Hey staff were coming under huge criticism but I agreed with the messages coming out of the hospital. Unbeknownst to me, DAUK we’re saying similar things.”

The case of trainee paediatrician Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba has given The Doctors’ Association a major platform and Adrian notes ‘our growth has been in parallel with the high profile of the case’.

”We want to move towards a ‘learn not blame’ culture in the NHS, with complete openness and transparency, so that when mistakes happen, tragic as they may be, we acknowledge all the different factors that contibruted to that mistake, and minimise the opportunity for those mistakes to happen again”.

Another big issue for DAUK is Brexit. “The vast majority of NHS workers I’m aware of, in the real world and online, feel that retaining our membership to the EU is the best things for the NHS”.

Read the full article below.