Professor Gillian Leng, President of the Royal Society of Medicine was asked to carry out an independent review into the role of physician and anaesthetic associates.

She sits down with Kamran Abbasi, editor in chief of The BMJ, to discuss her findings. In the UK, the rollout of physician associates, NHS staff who took on some of the tasks of doctors, has been both haphazard and controversial.

Originally copied from similar roles in the U.S., British PAs were introduced in the early 2000s. The level of clinical responsibility they were asked to take on began to vary around the country, driven mostly by the workforce needs of individual Trusts.

The lack of clarity about their roles lead to disquiet with doctors, worry for patients, and an increasingly toxic debate on social media.

• 01.00 What is the Leng Review?
• 10:00 Recommendation one: Renaming
• 14:00 Recommendation two: Easier identification
• 16:00 Recommendation three: How to work?
• 20:00 Recommendation four: Diagnosis
• 25:00 Recommendation five: Oversight & Regulation
• 32:00 Prescribing and ordering ionizing radiation?
• 40:00 A failure of workforce planning and vision ?
• 49:00 The NHS 10 year plan

This week we’re focusing on the NHS.

On the 3rd of July the UK’s Prime Minister, Kier Starmer finally announced the NHS’ 10 year plan. His Labour government laid out a vision for where the healthcare service should head over the next decade.

The announcement has been met with mixed responses. The plan has some good ideas - but a lack of vision combined with scarcity of detail leave many questions about how well its aims can be implemented.

In this podcast we're joined by 3 experts to dissect the details of this plan

• Jennifer Dixon is chief executive of the Health Foundation
• Katie Bramhall-Stainer is a working GP, and chairs the BMA’s General Practice committee.
• David Oliver is a consultant geriatrician, and a columnist for the BMJ

Reading list

News analysis: What is the NHS 10 year plan promising and how will it be delivered?

Editorial: Government’s 10 year plan for the NHS in England

David Oliver's column: The NHS 10 year plan—more a set of ambitions than a plan

Rebecca Coombes interviews Dr. Tom Dolphin, consultant anaesthetist and newly elected chair of the BMA Council.

Watch this interview on our YouTube.