Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps support healthcare professionals who face (a) discrimination and (b) abuse.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Discrimination and abuse are unacceptable in any workplace, and have no place in the National Health Service. All employers across the NHS should have robust policies in place on how these behaviours should be handled and what support should be made available to staff.
In January 2021, and in conjunction with the Social Partnership Forum, NHS England developed and published a national Violence Prevention and Reduction Standard. This supports employers in their efforts to provide a safe and secure working environment for NHS staff, with a focus on risk management, training, and support for those impacted by incidences of violence or aggression.
NHS England has also developed an NHS Civility and Respect programme to tackle bullying and harassment in the NHS, and to create positive working environments.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to define the role of medical associates to ensure there is a clear distinction with the role of doctors.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Medical associate professions are valued members of the multi-disciplinary team and contribute to patient care. Regulation of Physician Associates (PAs) and Anaesthesia Associates (AAs) will begin in December 2024. The General Medical Council (GMC) will set standards of practice, education, and training, and operate fitness-to-practice procedures to ensure that PAs and AAs can be held to account if serious concerns are raised.
NHS England has issued clear guidance on the deployment of PAs and AAs in the National Health Service, which describes the expectations of how organisations providing NHS care should deploy PAs and AAs so that they can contribute to the delivery of safe and effective healthcare, in a supportive environment. This guidance is available at the following link:
Ahead of regulation, the GMC has also published advice for doctors who supervise AAs and PAs, alongside updating its clinical governance handbook to set out how organisations that employ AAs and PAs should ensure appropriate deployment and supervision.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he supports regulation of Medical Associate Professionals by the General Medical Council.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Medical associate professions are valued members of the multi-disciplinary team and contribute to patient care. Regulation of Physician Associates (PAs) and Anaesthesia Associates (AAs) will begin in December 2024. The General Medical Council (GMC) will set standards of practice, education, and training, and operate fitness-to-practice procedures to ensure that PAs and AAs can be held to account if serious concerns are raised.
NHS England has issued clear guidance on the deployment of PAs and AAs in the National Health Service, which describes the expectations of how organisations providing NHS care should deploy PAs and AAs so that they can contribute to the delivery of safe and effective healthcare, in a supportive environment. This guidance is available at the following link:
Ahead of regulation, the GMC has also published advice for doctors who supervise AAs and PAs, alongside updating its clinical governance handbook to set out how organisations that employ AAs and PAs should ensure appropriate deployment and supervision.