DR MAX PEMBERTON reveals how to tell if you’ve REALLY been seen by a qualified doctor – and the question you MUST ask to see a GP

When you are feeling unwell and make an appointment with your GP, it is not unreasonable to assume that the person you end up in a consulting room with is a doctor. However, this is increasingly not the case.

You may even unknowingly discuss your complaints with someone who has not even had medical training.

I’m talking about Physician Associates (PAs for short). A poll conducted last week by Ipsos found that 57 percent of people had either never heard of PAs, or had heard of them but had no idea what they actually did.

However, I am sure that many of those interviewed were seen by a PA without knowing it.

To be clear, a Physician Associate is not a doctor. Their widespread use in the NHS is relatively new, the original idea being that they would ‘assist’ doctors.

But as the health care system has come under increasing pressure, they have increasingly taken on more clinical responsibilities, despite the fact that they never went to medical school, but instead, after graduating,

a scientific education, completing a two-year postgraduate training. I find this very disturbing. In my opinion, it is unethical and contrary to informed consent if you have the impression that the person with whom you are privately discussing medical concerns is a physician.

There is no doubt that physician associates can be a great help to doctors, but they are too often used to fill gaps. The NHS plans to employ 10,000 of them by 2037!

In medical school I learned that the most dangerous thing for a doctor is not not knowing something: it is not realizing that you don’t know it.

If people are not aware of the limitations of their knowledge, it is all too easy to make mistakes. And that is exactly my concern with PAs.

It usually takes at least 10 years to train a general practitioner.

They spent five or six years in medical school, including two years as a junior doctor and another three years as a general practitioner.

How can a PA measure up to that level of experience? It’s no wonder so many people are concerned about the boom in PAs, with the Royal College of General Practitioners recently calling for a halt to their recruitment and deployment.

Two years of training cannot equip a PA with as much knowledge and skills as a physician. This is not medical snobbery, it is simply a fact.

I have personally experienced the risks that PAs can pose to patients. About a year ago, my mother was called into her GP practice to discuss her medication as part of an ‘assessment’.

I was impressed that they were so proactive in checking her medication, as I have seen too many people wrongly given repeat prescriptions.

She then called me to say that she had seen a “nice doctor” who had advised her to stop taking her anticoagulants. I was stunned. She had had multiple strokes and had been told by several specialists that she would have to take her anticoagulants for the rest of her life.

It seemed extraordinary to me that a GP would go against the specific advice of specialists. I was very concerned and asked mum not to make any changes and to call the practice for clarification.

She hadn’t seen a doctor at all, it turned out, but a PA. He had been diligently following the national guidelines for anticoagulation in the elderly, but had completely failed to understand that you can’t have a ‘one size fits all’ approach, especially not with patients with complex medical histories.

Mother was promptly put back on her medication. But what if her son hadn’t been a doctor? What if she hadn’t told me or I hadn’t thought to ask who she had actually seen?

Specialist nurses and specialist nurse practitioners have been seeing patients for years, but they have nursing training and years of practice experience. More importantly, the “nurse” part of their title makes it clear that they are not doctors.

The same does not apply to physician associates.

Although PAs can be good at assessing and treating routine problems, they do not prescribe medications and cannot order specific diagnostic tests such as x-rays. They are currently unregulated and must always work under the supervision of a senior physician.

According to NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) guidelines, healthcare professionals should introduce themselves by name and profession. However, this rarely happens.

If you want to make sure that the person you are speaking to is a doctor, my advice is to ask them directly. If you specifically asked to see a doctor and it turns out that you were not given an appointment with one, then you have every right to complain.

Transparency in medicine is vital. You have the right to know how qualified the person is to whom you tell your problems.

Stay away from your ex

After months of speculation, it’s now official that Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have split. Again.

But why risk getting back together with someone (JLo and Affleck were first engaged in 2002) when things had already ended so badly?

For some people, self-sabotage is a big factor. They know they’re not compatible—and that, perversely, is the attraction.

For others, it’s because there’s something comforting about familiarity. There can even be something intoxicating about being with someone you already know.

Of course, the first feelings of falling in love, the excitement and enthusiasm, are wonderful, but there is also something to be said for the safety and security you experience when your partner already ‘understands’ you.

But when we end up back with our ex, it is often a sign that we have had trouble connecting with someone else, which is why we would rather try to connect with an old flame than go through life alone.

Yes, sometimes people succeed the second time. But most of the time they just repeat the mistakes they made before.

Ralf Schumacher’s ex-wife has broken her silence after he came out as gay, saying she feels “used” and that she wasted “her best years” on him.

When we hear about men who have been married to women and come out, we should cheer and call them “brave” for being so “honest.”

We rarely think about the woman left behind, who may wonder if the whole relationship was a ruse – a lie to cover up his true sexuality.

I say this as a gay man, but I don’t think it’s brave to get married

a woman and then, years later, finally revealing your sexuality. I understand that it can be difficult to accept that you are gay, but don’t drag others into your inner turmoil. Don’t ruin someone else’s life because you don’t have the courage to come out yet.

I once had neighbors who were partners for almost 60 years before dying in their 90s. They lived together and pretended to be brothers for decades, because it was illegal to be gay. One of them was a surgeon, and when an operating room nurse found out he was gay, he was blackmailed until he eventually quit, his career in ruins. But he and his partner remained in a loving, loyal relationship their entire lives. adult life, despite having to deal with crushing stigma and prejudice for much of that time.

How brave those two men were.

The new Alzheimer’s drug lecanemab will not be prescribed on the NHS because the benefits are too small to justify the huge cost. But people are desperate and

I think it’s terrible that families have to go into debt to pay for this medicine privately.

DR MAX PRESCRIBES: THAI TONIC

Sanuk is the Thai concept of achieving a joyful life. This book shows you how to use Sanuk as a guideline in your daily life, leading to more happiness in all aspects!