An American healthcare company is only out for profit? I’m shocked!
I’m sure this is happening at mine. Everytime I turn up I speak to someone who just feels like they don’t quite know what they’re talking about. Like they’re one of the people who would take your bloods but shouldn’t really be diagnosing.
Something something “this isn’t a labour shortage, just a wage shortage” something something /s
They must be very confident in their professional indemnity insurance.
We have CLOWNS at No 10, why not have CLOWNS as Doctors ???
Just like the nhs!
Physician Associates are not intrinsically bad as a tool in modern medicine. It is a shame that companies like this use them primarily as a cost saving measure.
Before moving I was registered at a practice in Bedfordshire that was operating a system based around a number of PAs, specialist medical staff & GPS, more than 10 years ago. It was the best NHS practice i’ve ever used.
A wide range of skills & specialisms amongst junior staff, regular “well person” checks, careful placement of your initial appointment & effective escalation to doctors when necessary made them very responsive to patient needs.
Hmm. I wonder which Tories have links and are benefiting from this.
Edit: ok so. operose health is owned by Centene Corporation who have done very well over the last few years from COVID for obvious reasons.
Listed on the S&P 500, one of the best performing companies last 10 years judging by how it is holding against the current downturn.
I could go into their Edgar filings but I know it’s going to say Delaware and I know it’s to say Cayman Islands and I get looking through their 13-ks we will see who is invested in them too.
Appear to be the biggest health insurance carrier in the US.
Buy a disease when it pays to sell the cure I guess.
I desperately hope this isn’t just even more privatisation sweeping in but it sure looks like it. I imagine this would have been set up by the previous government though not recently?
This is neoliberal capitalism. Deregulate, privatise, reduce quality, cut corners, increase profit margins, worsen the service.
It’s the same reason why the quality of your clothes is getting worse, your iPhone becomes unusable after a few years, train travel costs more than car travel.
Pro business interests means anti human being interests. How does this right wing country not realise this yet???
I’m sure it will all end up with a much more efficient and better service, because that always happens with privatisation doesn’t it…?
Every time somebody takes over something from the NHS it is always going to be better, until it collapses in a few months – and it may well be because the “cost saving” is always staff – because there is very little else it can be.
This is what brexit is about, asset stripping the nation
20yrs ago I lived on the Isle of Wight, and I remember going to see my doctor maybe 6 times over a ten year period for different reasons, and every time I went to see him he simply shipped me off to the hospital for a blood test. I suspect this may be about to happen a lot more.
Why is the BBC refusing to name the surgery? They usually don’t seem to have a problem exposing whomever is at fault, so why the shyness now ?
Honestly, I have no problem with PA’s dealing with the less complicated cases like sore throats etc
As a PA, this is a very disheartening article. We DO have a place in healthcare, including in GP practices, to see routine/minor things that do not necessarily need to be seen by a GP themselves. Yes, we need to have a doctor present to oversee our work and help with any issues or if we feel
out of our depth. There is a massive shortage of GPs at the moment but this isn’t PAs faults – we’re just trying to help where we can. It is obviously inappropriate for this US company to be utilising PAs as doctors and I wholeheartedly disagree with it but this article puts a bit too much emphasis on calling PAs under qualified and acting as if we are the issue.
2 years vs 10 years of training, enjoy your healthcare
Can’t afford to see a doc? See our less qualified NHS ‘equivalent’
I am not surprised by this. I work for a chain of GPS in Cambridgeshire. We have lost 8 receptionists in the past 4months 2 dispensers and some nurses. My own GP lost a dispenser and also 3 receptionist since January.
We are so short on staff and the poor admin team is really struggling to get both trained and trainee positions fulfilled. We had receptionist last literally 2weeks because of the stress of the job. My job working in the dispensary has increasingly been getting very hard, horrible and I am already doing nearly double the hours that I am contracted too do. My training had to goto the wayside due to staff shortages.
The worst thing is my GPs practice is in a small village and the patients have become absolutely terrible. Impatient, rude and confrontational. Even if they have to wait a few mins from seeing the doctors and they have acute medication they kick up a storm expecting it to be ready. We had to extend our processing time from 3 days to 5 days for repeat medication issue and some of the poor doctors are really struggling with there workloads too.
The cost of fuel is already bordering on the point of it not really being worth me working there and most of the staff are saying that if it goes up by 20p a litre more then it won’t be cost effective for them to drive to work. This country is falling apart so fast. Its scary.
Some people trying to make the argument that General Practice has been private since the year dot so even more private won’t cause any harm…
I’m reminded of every public service being required to act more like a private business and how terrible they all ended up being.
PAs can be very good at dealing with the basic things, this is true.
This however puts workload of all the complicated patients onto doctors and contributes to burnout, plus increased workload as the doctor supervises them.
The breadth and depth of a medical degree and training of doctors helps them understand when something that seems simple actually isn’t.
I’ve worked with PAs / ANPs that are unable to think outside the box, everything is ‘protocolised’ and yes I’ve seen skin cancers covered in steroid cream for months by PA/ ANPs. I have lots of stories to share. Over-prescription and referral is common, this helps contribute to antibiotic resistance and swamps the health service with unnecessary referrals and patients with unnecessary radiation.
My advice? Request to see a doctor. Get it put on your file. And pay attention to what role someone introduces themselves as and clarify it at the start of a consultation if you want to see a doctor.
We pay money for our healthcare, I just want the best return on investment for mine and my health as good as it can be.
Don’t worry, folks! Tory MPs will have their own, private physician on call so they’ll be ok.
Their voters won’t, but they won’t care to much about that since they don’t care about anyone but themselves.
Who’d have thought privatisation would result in a cost cutting race to the bottom?
loving you forever is the goal of my life.
As a country everything is just getting stripped back until we’re left with what exactly…?
Why is this country so shit? I mean, when did it get to be that I look at a story like this and I’m surprised they are actually replacing GPs with anything, and not just expecting everyone to work more hours for less money?
28 comments
An American healthcare company is only out for profit? I’m shocked!
I’m sure this is happening at mine. Everytime I turn up I speak to someone who just feels like they don’t quite know what they’re talking about. Like they’re one of the people who would take your bloods but shouldn’t really be diagnosing.
Something something “this isn’t a labour shortage, just a wage shortage” something something /s
They must be very confident in their professional indemnity insurance.
We have CLOWNS at No 10, why not have CLOWNS as Doctors ???
Just like the nhs!
Physician Associates are not intrinsically bad as a tool in modern medicine. It is a shame that companies like this use them primarily as a cost saving measure.
Before moving I was registered at a practice in Bedfordshire that was operating a system based around a number of PAs, specialist medical staff & GPS, more than 10 years ago. It was the best NHS practice i’ve ever used.
A wide range of skills & specialisms amongst junior staff, regular “well person” checks, careful placement of your initial appointment & effective escalation to doctors when necessary made them very responsive to patient needs.
Hmm. I wonder which Tories have links and are benefiting from this.
Edit: ok so. operose health is owned by Centene Corporation who have done very well over the last few years from COVID for obvious reasons.
Listed on the S&P 500, one of the best performing companies last 10 years judging by how it is holding against the current downturn.
I could go into their Edgar filings but I know it’s going to say Delaware and I know it’s to say Cayman Islands and I get looking through their 13-ks we will see who is invested in them too.
Appear to be the biggest health insurance carrier in the US.
Buy a disease when it pays to sell the cure I guess.
I desperately hope this isn’t just even more privatisation sweeping in but it sure looks like it. I imagine this would have been set up by the previous government though not recently?
This is neoliberal capitalism. Deregulate, privatise, reduce quality, cut corners, increase profit margins, worsen the service.
It’s the same reason why the quality of your clothes is getting worse, your iPhone becomes unusable after a few years, train travel costs more than car travel.
Pro business interests means anti human being interests. How does this right wing country not realise this yet???
I’m sure it will all end up with a much more efficient and better service, because that always happens with privatisation doesn’t it…?
Every time somebody takes over something from the NHS it is always going to be better, until it collapses in a few months – and it may well be because the “cost saving” is always staff – because there is very little else it can be.
This is what brexit is about, asset stripping the nation
20yrs ago I lived on the Isle of Wight, and I remember going to see my doctor maybe 6 times over a ten year period for different reasons, and every time I went to see him he simply shipped me off to the hospital for a blood test. I suspect this may be about to happen a lot more.
Why is the BBC refusing to name the surgery? They usually don’t seem to have a problem exposing whomever is at fault, so why the shyness now ?
Honestly, I have no problem with PA’s dealing with the less complicated cases like sore throats etc
As a PA, this is a very disheartening article. We DO have a place in healthcare, including in GP practices, to see routine/minor things that do not necessarily need to be seen by a GP themselves. Yes, we need to have a doctor present to oversee our work and help with any issues or if we feel
out of our depth. There is a massive shortage of GPs at the moment but this isn’t PAs faults – we’re just trying to help where we can. It is obviously inappropriate for this US company to be utilising PAs as doctors and I wholeheartedly disagree with it but this article puts a bit too much emphasis on calling PAs under qualified and acting as if we are the issue.
2 years vs 10 years of training, enjoy your healthcare
Can’t afford to see a doc? See our less qualified NHS ‘equivalent’
I am not surprised by this. I work for a chain of GPS in Cambridgeshire. We have lost 8 receptionists in the past 4months 2 dispensers and some nurses. My own GP lost a dispenser and also 3 receptionist since January.
We are so short on staff and the poor admin team is really struggling to get both trained and trainee positions fulfilled. We had receptionist last literally 2weeks because of the stress of the job. My job working in the dispensary has increasingly been getting very hard, horrible and I am already doing nearly double the hours that I am contracted too do. My training had to goto the wayside due to staff shortages.
The worst thing is my GPs practice is in a small village and the patients have become absolutely terrible. Impatient, rude and confrontational. Even if they have to wait a few mins from seeing the doctors and they have acute medication they kick up a storm expecting it to be ready. We had to extend our processing time from 3 days to 5 days for repeat medication issue and some of the poor doctors are really struggling with there workloads too.
The cost of fuel is already bordering on the point of it not really being worth me working there and most of the staff are saying that if it goes up by 20p a litre more then it won’t be cost effective for them to drive to work. This country is falling apart so fast. Its scary.
Some people trying to make the argument that General Practice has been private since the year dot so even more private won’t cause any harm…
I’m reminded of every public service being required to act more like a private business and how terrible they all ended up being.
Winning: the latest
Im afraid the article is mistaken. You ‘ usually’ need a life sciences related degree ( can mean an awful lot, history of psychiatry bsc still counts at some universities) . See below https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/medical-associate-professions/roles-medical-associate-professions/physician-associate
PAs can be very good at dealing with the basic things, this is true.
This however puts workload of all the complicated patients onto doctors and contributes to burnout, plus increased workload as the doctor supervises them.
The breadth and depth of a medical degree and training of doctors helps them understand when something that seems simple actually isn’t.
I’ve worked with PAs / ANPs that are unable to think outside the box, everything is ‘protocolised’ and yes I’ve seen skin cancers covered in steroid cream for months by PA/ ANPs. I have lots of stories to share. Over-prescription and referral is common, this helps contribute to antibiotic resistance and swamps the health service with unnecessary referrals and patients with unnecessary radiation.
My advice? Request to see a doctor. Get it put on your file. And pay attention to what role someone introduces themselves as and clarify it at the start of a consultation if you want to see a doctor.
We pay money for our healthcare, I just want the best return on investment for mine and my health as good as it can be.
Don’t worry, folks! Tory MPs will have their own, private physician on call so they’ll be ok.
Their voters won’t, but they won’t care to much about that since they don’t care about anyone but themselves.
[removed]
Personal Experience – and wooly personal spec on nhs healthcareers specifies ‘ usually ‘ theres a requirement for lifesciences related degree , which is the loophole alot of universities use. In other words entry requirements to the msc is not cast in iron, theres a wide range of accepted backgrounds
https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/medical-associate-professions/roles-medical-associate-professions/physician-associate
Who’d have thought privatisation would result in a cost cutting race to the bottom?
loving you forever is the goal of my life.
As a country everything is just getting stripped back until we’re left with what exactly…?
Why is this country so shit? I mean, when did it get to be that I look at a story like this and I’m surprised they are actually replacing GPs with anything, and not just expecting everyone to work more hours for less money?