Farewell, associates. Welcome back assistants On 20 November 2024, Wes Streeting, the UK’s Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, commissioned Gillian Leng to undertake an independent review of physician associates and anaesthesia associa...

11/ Final thought: This is a pivotal moment for the NHS workforce. The debate must now shift from ideology to implementation. How these recommendations are enacted will shape the future of multidisciplinary care in the UK. Full text here: www.bmj.com/content/390/...

Quite some headlines on how things need to change after #LengReview. Thank goodness for everyone who stood up for /had to whistleblow for patient safety, resident doctor training and how the public were being mislead. Review could have gone further but …

NHS physician associates should not diagnose untriaged patients, review finds Government review says PAs sometimes used to fill roles designed for doctors, potentially exposing patients to risk

Physician assistants must never see undifferentiated patients. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Dear RCP Fellows,

Only 2 days left to vote - the future of your college is in your hands.

For integrity, for strong leadership, pls consider voting for:

🩺 Dr Asif Qasim for President
🩺 Dr Louella Vaughan for VP
🩺 Dr Philip Pearson for Council
🩺 Prof Nick Hopkinson for Council

#TimeForChange

This is an important election for the RCP

With the abolition of NHSE and the Postgraduate Medical Education review we have to ensure the RCP is the Voice of Physicians and leads on policy

It really is time for change

Vote Asif Qasim

Please encourage FRCP colleagues to vote by Monday 14th April

I've talked to hundreds of Members and Fellows and their views are clear: we need to revitalise the RCP and restore the #VoiceOfPhysicians

Vote Asif Qasim before Monday 14th April

It's time to act: let's make the RCP something we can be proud of

PRCP Election — Dr Asif Qasim, MA PhD FRCP Dr Asif Qasim candidate for election at President of the Royal College of Physicians - restoring the RCP as the Voice of Physicians

Thank you for your votes & support in the RCP Election - your endorsements to #VoteAsifQasim send a powerful message.

We need a fresh start, with new leadership #TimeForChange.

I am committed to rebuilding pride in the RCP & restoring your #VoiceOfPhysicians

#VoteAsifQasim

asifqasim.co.uk/prcp

Voting opens Monday 17th March in @rcphysicians.bsky.social elections

If elected I will lead with integrity restore the College as the #VoiceOfPhysicians

More mportant than ever with the abolition of
@nhsengland.bsky.social

See my election statement+video asifqasim.co.uk/prcp

#VoteAsifQasim

OK, I'm saying this as a woman and an FRCP If you're running for President of the RCP and the thing you pledge to do in the first 100 days is rearrange the portraits at RCP to make women more visible... I AM SERIOUSLY LAUGHING AT YOU. How can this be your priority for the first 100 days in office given the crisis the RCP is facing right now? This is performative vote-seeking at it's best, and I, a woman FRCP see right through it.

Great post on the Other Place from @shivanim-kc.bsky.social

(TL;DR: some candidates are being a bit creepy with their empty promises. Just VOTE FOR ASIF QASIM, HE DOESN'T DEAL IN THIS NONSENSE).

Honoured to be nominated for RCP Council by @drasifqasim.bsky.social @respirologist.bsky.social & @martinmckee.bsky.social
Time to get our college back on track. I strongly support @drasifqasim.bsky.social for PRCP and @drlkvaughan.bsky.social for VP.
#VoteAsifQasim #RCPtimeforchange

🧵 1/11 📚 Our new rapid systematic review, led by @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social in @bmj.com examines the role of physician associates (PAs) and anaesthetic associates (AAs) in the UK. This is a crucially important question in light of the Leng Review

GP contract 2024/25 changes The ballot of GP contractors in England has now closed and we are awaiting the result. Assuming member support for collective action mirrors the overwhelming rejection of the contract, we plan to advi...

A win: Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) funding can at last actually be spent on GPs and practice nurses. www.bma.org.uk/our-campaign...
@drasifqasim.bsky.social @respirologist.bsky.social @drlkvaughan.bsky.social @drbarrymonk1.bsky.social

Why the European Journal of Public Health and EUPHA are opposing President Trump’s attack on the language of diversity The news that the Trump administration has ordered scientists at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to withdraw or retract articles co

"Censorship of science is never about protecting the public. It is about controlling them. When governments dictate what research can & cannot be published, they are not defending the truth. They are erasing it."

Powerful words from @martinmckee.bsky.social et al 👏

academic.oup.com/eurpub/advan...

Independent inquiry finds serious governance failures at the Royal College of Physicians of London “… a range of collective failures in leadership” (page 3) “… a clear lack of accountability and due process.” (page 4) “[T]here is a pervasive lack of trust and confidence in the College’s governa...

Late last year a report set out serious governance failures at the Royal College of Physicians of London - we wrote about it here. It’s now abundantly clear that things are even worse now. If you are voting in the current elections, please reflect on this.
www.bmj.com/content/386/...

Key message here is that there is actually little conflict between good care and the environment. The most effective asthma care is also best for the environment.
-reduces the need to use reliever medication
-reduces the number of acute exacerbations
www.nice.org.uk/news/article... #RespEd #LungSky

For more details

www.bmj.com/content/bmj/...

Independent inquiry finds serious governance failures at the Royal College of Physicians
#RCPtimeforchange
www.bmj.com/content/386/...
@respirologist.bsky.social @drasifqasim.bsky.social
@drlkvaughan.bsky.social
@trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social
@drdavidnicholl.bsky.social
@drbarrymonk1.bsky.social

Good luck Asif
You have been engaged in all the important issues and have always advocated for policies that will improve patient safety and support doctors

Medical school in the UK will soon be out of reach for many highly intelligent and motivated young people who do not have access to financial support

BCIS ACI 2025 national audit data presented by Prof Mamas - radial activity increased again to 95% of all UK PCI cases

The review of physician and anaesthesia associate roles will be transparent and evidence based The role of physician associate is not new. It was first introduced in the US more than 50 years ago. The model has since been adopted in many countries, alongside other medical associate professional...

Prof Leng giving assurance that her review will be balanced

Only v limited published evidence

Expertise+experiences of doctors crucial to patient safety - hope they get fair consideration

@trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social
@thedauk.bsky.social
@nickhopkinson.bsky.social

www.bmj.com/content/388/...

NHS to offer 'groundbreaking' sickle cell gene therapy The gene therapy Casgevy, which will now be offered to some patients in England, could help people live disease-free, experts say.

Great news for sickle cell disease patients in the UK!!

Gene therapy reduces symptoms and keeps patients out of hospital

@trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social @copddoc.bsky.social @martinmckee.bsky.social @doctoroxford.bsky.social @profaliceroberts.bsky.social

www.bbc.com/news/article...

I’m worried sick about patient safety as highly trained clinicians are replaced by 2yr-trained associates. Does this make me a “social media rabble”? Or is the “be kind” movement being cynically weaponised? Those monitoring my posts, put this on the agenda for the meeting you’ve asked me to attend.

1/ 🚨 The UK introduced Physician Associates (PAs) as a response to the healthcare workforce crisis. But the journey has been contentious, with lessons for other countries considering similar measures. A 🧵 on the findings from our new paper with Louella Vaughan and Giuliano Russo

Bright green-yellow sea horse

My son Rob says one of the perks of being a marine biologist is the occasional cute sea horse. This one from Fiji.

People having to pull out their own teeth with pliers is not Victorian - it’s medieval YouTube video by Peter Stefanovic

🚨FOR NEW PATIENTS NHS DENTISTRY HAS EFFECTIVELY CEASED TO EXIST

Government’s own shocking data shows a staggering 97% of new patients who try to get an NHS appointment fail to get one

The @thebda.bsky.social
is calling on the gov’t to act with speed to save NHS dentistry

youtu.be/UtqAtGAnuC0?...

Opinion | A Bird Flu Pandemic Would Be One of the Most Foreseeable Catastrophes in History It’s not too late for President Biden to give the U.S. a life-changing gift.

#H5N1 - so-called avian flu in US dairy herds and human dairy workers.

Terrible #PublicHealth provision in the US could costy us all very dear
www.nytimes.com/2024/11/29/o...

In 1970 the UK and Norway were roughly equal, almost no debt, and owned all their Public Services.

Now the UK owns nothing and has £3tn of debt.
While Norway still owns everything and has the equivilant per person of £10tn.

That's how privatisation 'works'.

Pasteur wasn’t such an old fool.