The data on physician associates in the UK, and speaking up in the NHS

Medicine and Science from The BMJ

We've just published a new rapid review on the safety and efficacy of physician and anaesthetic associates in the UK, which was commissioned to support the ongoing Leng review of these new roles in the NHS. Trish Greenhalgh, professor of primary care at the University of Oxford, joins us to discuss the data she found.

Habib Naqvi is director of the NHS Race and Health Observatory, and is holding up a mirror to the NHS on it's support for ethnic minority patients and doctors - he joins us to talk about the work they've done, and why Reform UK's manifesto pledge to disband the Observatory is a matter of pride.

Finally, our annual trip to the Nuffield Summit is not complete without a roundtable, this year we asked the question "What is stopping staff from speaking up?". Our panellists raised the usual issues of hierarchy and psychological safety, but also how the lack of positive change from senior leadership has habituated people into thinking "why bother".

Our panel;

Katie Bramall-Stainer, chair of the General Practice Committee of the BMA
Jugdeep Dhesi, consultant in geriatric medicine at Guys and St Thomas Hopsital
Henrietta Hughes, the UK's patient safety commissioner
Thea Stein, chief executive of the Nuffield Trust

Reading list

Physician associates and anaesthetic associates in UK: rapid systematic review of recent UK based research

Together we can challenge the racism that persists in healthcare