BMJ - British Medical Journal

Over the past year, a firestorm of debate has been swirling around the role of physician associates (PAs) in the NHS. Many commentators have used the lack of regulation of PAs and oversight of their education as evidence that PAs are trying to hide their practice or escape the consequences of their actions. Nothing could be further from the truth.PAs, like doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, pharmacists, and all NHS professionals, want to ensure that only highly qualified people are admitted to their profession and that there is a mechanism to manage those who are not performing to standard. Just as all doctors do not bear responsibility for the mistakes of other doctors, nor do all PAs bear responsibility for every mistake made by another PA. Yet the government has been slow to respond to the need for regulation.The lack of statutory regulation has meant that the PA profession took the initiative...

The BMA has announced plans to take legal action over an exam error that left some doctors facing the risk of unemployment.The error affected nearly 300 candidates who sat part 2 of the membership of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP) exam in September 2023.1 A total of 61 doctors who were originally told they failed were informed 18 months later that they had passed, while 222 doctors who had been told they passed were belatedly informed that they had failed.Some doctors who thought they had passed were in the process of applying for higher specialty training when the error was announced in February. They have now had their applications withdrawn from the process, as they no longer meet the eligibility criteria for the roles.2 Doctors who have been affected told The BMJ they were concerned about becoming unemployed when their current training programmes end in August.The decision to withdraw...

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS trust is investigating allegations that healthcare staff illegally accessed medical records of the victims of a stabbing attack that left three people dead.Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19 year old university students, and Ian Coates, a 65 year old school caretaker, were stabbed to death by Valdo Calocane in June 2023.The claims that their medical records had been accessed illegally were first reported by the Daily Mirror.1 In a joint statement the families of the three victims described the news as “distressing and traumatic.”The statement said, “These are not just alleged data breaches but gross invasions of privacy and civil liberty. For individuals to choose to access information regarding the vicious attack and murder of Barney, Grace, and Ian with no reason to do so is sickening. It’s gross and inexcusable voyeurism at the most repugnant level.”The families found out about the potential breach in...

A most beautiful word?During his presidential campaign in 2024 Donald Trump was heard to say that “the most beautiful word in the dictionary today is the word ‘tariff.’ It’s more beautiful than ‘love’. It’s more beautiful than anything. It’s the most beautiful word. This country can become rich with the use—the proper use—of tariffs.”1If President Obama modelled himself on President Lincoln, Trump seems to be modelling himself on William McKinley, who was president from 1897 until his assassination in 1901, having been re-elected in 1900, and whom Trump has called the Tariff King: “He spoke beautifully of tariffs. His language was really beautiful: ‘We will not allow the enemy to come in and take our jobs and take our factories and take our workers and take our families unless they pay a big price, and the big price is tariffs.’” Trump made it sound as if he was quoting McKinley...

Stephen Powis, NHS England’s national medical director and one of the government’s most prominent communicators during the covid-19 pandemic, is to step down this summer.1His departure, announced on 6 March, creates another gap in NHS England’s senior leadership after Amanda Pritchard’s sudden decision to quit as its chief executive.2Powis, who has served more than seven years as national medical director, gave notice of his intentions in January in a letter to Pritchard, NHS England said.The departures come as health secretary Wes Streeting considers overhauling NHS England’s role and how it relates to the Department of Health and Social Care as part of reforms to improve NHS accountability and productivity, amid calls from some critics for NHS England’s abolition.3Streeting praised Powis’s “outstanding leadership” and “professionalism,” saying “his contribution to the NHS and the country was enormous during the pandemic.”“I would like to thank Steve, not only for his pivotal role in...

Hospital consultants have urged the BMA to lobby for a national, anonymous reporting structure for staff who experience sexual harassment at work.Doctors at the BMA’s UK consultants annual conference on 4 March also called for NHS organisations to investigate reports of sexual misconduct using external investigators trained in trauma investigations.A motion carried by the conference also stated that NHS trusts should include active bystander training within mandatory training programmes for all staff.Proposing the motion, perinatal psychiatrist Bhairavi Sapre referenced an investigation by The BMJ and the Guardian which found that more than 35 000 sexual safety incidents were reported to 212 NHS trusts in England between 2017 and 2022.1Figures from the 2023 annual NHS staff survey showed that 9% of NHS staff in England were sexually harassed while at work.2Sapre said that the lack of national reporting structure for sexual harassment left victims “without the support or confidence to report...

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has decided to reconsult on draft guidance for Alzheimer’s treatments donanemab and lecanemab, six months after initially rejecting the drugs, in light of new evidence provided by the manufacturers.The new draft guidelines, published on 6 March,12 have again not recommended the treatments be available on the NHS as they do not provide “good value” with “relatively small” benefit and high rollout costs, including regular infusions and side effect monitoring.However, the guidelines are now undergoing public consultation during which manufacturers and other stakeholders can “submit new evidence or commercial proposals that might tackle the problems that have so far been a barrier to the use of these new treatments in the NHS.”The consultations will close on 27 March and the NICE committee will consider all responses during a meeting in May, after which their recommendations will be finalised.The re-review of the drugs...

For the first time ever the UK has more female than male doctors, with 164 440 women (50.04%) and 164 195 men (49.96%) registered with a licence to practise, show data from the General Medical Council (fig 1).bmj;388/mar07_2/r458/F1F1f1Fig 1Proportion of doctors able to practise medicine in UK who are womenThe 2024 data show variation across the four UK countries. There are more women than men working as doctors in Scotland (54.8% versus 45.2%) and Northern Ireland (53.5% v 46.5%) but fewer women than men in England (49.7% v 50.3% male) and Wales (47.3% v 52.7%), though it is expected women will outnumber men in all four countries in the near future.One of the factors driving the trend has been more women going to study medicine. Since 2018-19 there have been more female than male medical students in all four UK countries. In 2023-24 the UK medical student intake was 60%...

bmj;388/mar07_1/r449/FAF1faMalcolm Faulk was a pioneering forensic psychiatrist who was instrumental in the development of regional secure units, which were developed to bridge the gap between prisons and the NHS. In 1972 Faulk was appointed consultant psychiatrist to the Home Office and the Wessex regional health authority—these joint posts were new and they were viewed with suspicion by other staff. Prison doctors saw them as a threat to their authority and NHS psychiatrists worried that their hospitals would be filled with dangerous patients.Faulk and his fellow newly appointed psychiatrists met up regularly, and their self-described “dream” was a system of treatment for disturbed offenders “which would permeate the penal system, dealing with the problems there, supported by clinics and outpatients in the NHS—a unified approach rather than a split one.”1 Faulk described the kind of problems he saw in prisons: “We saw neuroses, emotional turmoil, loss of control, pathological anger, and...

In healthcare we trust—or do we? A breakdown in trust, like the schism in the transatlantic alliance, should make us think again about whether the current model requires reinvention. An anonymous scientist continues to reveal the extent of the shocking attack on health and science in the US (doi:10.1136/bmj.r392).1 The professionals and public betrayed by their president’s purge must feel, as Nick Cave sang, like a microscopic cog in a catastrophic plan—designed and directed by his red right hand. Trust and rights (doi:10.1136/bmj.r372)2 are eroding in many if not all health systems worldwide, albeit not as dramatically as in the US. Crises—financial, workforce, and disease burden—strain every sinew of every health system.In the UK, the NHS is no different. Yes, some progress is being made. For example, a newly agreed contract offers hope of a gradual restoration of general practice (doi:10.1136/bmj.r426 doi:10.1136/bmj.r435).34 The alarming events at Moorfields Eye Hospital in...

Individuals in the UK with health conditions may be entitled to two types of benefits: incapacity benefits (for those whose condition prevents them from working) and disability benefits (to help with living costs arising from the disability). The cost of health related benefits for people of working age is now £48 billion this year.1 This is predicted to increase to £63 billion by 2030.1 If spending on health related benefits continues to grow as forecast, the UK will likely become one of the highest spenders on health related benefits among comparable countries. The latest figures show there are currently 2.83 million people who are “economically inactive,” primarily due to long term sickness. This reached a near-record high in the period of December 2023 to February 2024.2 Given the right incentives and support from GPs, this group could go back to work.Obtaining a fit note is the first step in the...

What you need to knowMost closed, stable hand fractures do not require surgery and heal well with immobilisation or protected early range of motion to prevent stiffening as well as dedicated hand therapyWash out open fractures thoroughly and promptly in the acute care setting and administer antibiotics to prevent infection, according to local guidelinesWith the exception of uncomplicated tuft fractures, refer all fractures to a hand surgeon for evaluation, ideally within a week of injury; bite wounds, open fractures, and irreducible fractures/joints warrant more urgent evaluationHand fractures represent roughly 20% of all fractures, with a global incidence of 179 per 100 000 individuals.12 In adults, the metacarpals are most commonly fractured, especially the neck of the fifth metacarpal—a boxer’s fracture—which is often a consequence of striking an object or person with a closed fist. Fractures of the phalanges, particularly the fifth, fourth, and third, are common and often result from...

More than half of England’s integrated care boards (ICBs) are planning to cut spending on services for young people with eating disorders from April, an analysis by the Royal College of Psychiatrists has found.1The planned spend for young people’s eating disorder services in England for 2024-25 is £101m, a real terms increase of 2.9% (or £2.9m) on the 2023-24 spend (£98.1m). But after analysing the NHS mental health dashboard for the first quarter of 2024-25 the college found that 24 out of 42 ICBs have reported planned spending cuts for the coming year compared with last year of more than £835 000.The college said that the planned cuts come amid 7933 new referrals for children and adolescents with eating disorders in the quarter ending December 2024, an increase of 13% from 7003 in the same quarter in 2023.There are also high thresholds to access services, which results in more young...

Fenton and Prochaska call for more restrictions on gambling advertising.1 GambleAware, the leading charity and commissioner of gambling harms prevention and treatment services in Great Britain, is supportive of the points raised and has been working to highlight the evidence that gambling advertising disproportionately affects children, with those exposed to it being 2.3 times more likely to experience “problem gambling” in their lifetime. Based on evidence, we think that stricter gambling advertising and marketing regulations would substantially help to protect children from gambling harm.To tackle the link between gambling advertising and harm, GambleAware is calling for three new measures. Firstly, we would like to see the introduction of a pre-watershed ban on all broadcast gambling advertising, including sports sponsorships. Countries like Australia, Germany, and Ireland have successfully implemented similar bans, with public surveys showing support.Secondly, all gambling advertising, marketing, and sponsorship activity should contain evidence led health warnings to communicate...

NHS EnglandChief executive Pritchard resignsNHS England’s chief executive, Amanda Pritchard, has announced that she will step down at the end of March after three and a half years in the role. The surprise announcement followed recent strong criticism by two parliamentary committees that questioned NHS leaders’ ability and “dynamism” to implement the government’s desired changes to the health service. Pritchard, who has also been chief operating officer at NHS England since 2019, said that now was the time for her to leave, with the NHS continuing to make progress in its recovery from the covid-19 pandemic. (Full story doi:10.1136/bmj.r399)CancerDeprivation is linked to higher death ratesPeople living in the UK’s most deprived areas are much more likely to die from cancer, with death rates almost 60% higher than in the most affluent areas, an analysis by Cancer Research UK found. Around 28 400 extra deaths from cancer a year were linked...

US president Donald Trump has begun his attack on women’s health. In his first two weeks as president, he began taking action as detailed in Project 2025, the blueprint for his second presidency developed by right wing think tank The Heritage Foundation.1 He signed an executive order to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization; reinstated the global gag rule2; condemned and abolished equality, diversity, and inclusion initiatives; instructed the censorship of scientific publications that include reference to LGBTQ+ or gender “forbidden terms”3; attempted to end the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR); and began his assault on US foreign aid, public health, and disease control abroad and in the US.4 Sexual and reproductive health organisations are predicting and experiencing the harm of these measures. According to Guttmacher, the 90 day freeze in United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funding will lead to 11.7 million women...

Assisted dying for terminally ill people is set to soon become lawful in the Isle of Man.1 It is on the legal horizon in England and Wales too, as the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is currently proceeding through parliament.2 Introducing its second reading in November 2024, the bill’s proposer, Kim Leadbeater, emphasised its unique “layers of safeguarding,” specifically “a thorough and robust process involving two doctors and a High Court judge.”3Having heard evidence at committee stage, Leadbeater now proposes dropping the layer of scrutiny by a High Court judge and having an Assisted Dying Review Panel instead,4 like the model already adopted in Spain.5 The panel would include a senior legal professional, such as a current or former judge, along with a psychiatrist and social worker. It would be overseen by a voluntary assisted dying commissioner, who would be a serving or retired judge. The panel proposal...

Last year a 17 year old, Patient X, was admitted to Kamuzu Central Hospital, a tertiary referral centre in Malawi, with generalised peritonitis. An examination found that a stick had perforated and remained in the patient’s uterus and that the organ was pus filled and necrotic: the result of a botched backstreet abortion. Patient X underwent a total abdominal hysterectomy and in the following weeks developed a fever and fascial dehiscence, a serious complication that occurs when the abdominal wall separates after surgery. Throughout, the patient and her mother denied that she had visited one of Malawi’s thousands of clandestine abortion providers.1The teenager didn’t die, so her fate could have been worse: more than 1000 women a year die as a result of unsafe abortion in Malawi,2 a country that criminalises abortion except when the pregnant individual’s life is in danger. As in aid dependent nations throughout the global south,...

This man in his late 30s, who was otherwise well, presented with a five month history of episodic right facial pain, right nasal discharge, and halitosis. He had undergone an extraction of his upper right maxillary molar six months earlier. He was initially diagnosed with chronic maxillary sinusitis and received multiple courses of antibiotics, with no improvement. Oral examination showed a 2 × 2 mm opening at the extraction site (fig 1). A computed tomography scan confirmed the diagnosis of an oroantral fistula (OAF). bmj;388/mar06_7/e083050/F1F1f1Fig 1 A communication between the oral cavity and the maxillary sinus post-extraction is called oroantral communication; left untreated, it will epithelialise to become an OAF.1 Oral debris and bacteria can enter the maxillary sinus through this opening, resulting in chronic sinusitis.1 Sinusitis can also be associated with chronic dental infections,2 highlighting the importance of ruling out dental causes in patients presenting with unilateral maxillary...

In the farmlands of India—the country with the highest rate of snakebite deaths in the world, at nearly 58 000 a year—a unique initiative once held great promise. Gnaneswar CH, a wildlife conservationist, spearheaded a project in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli district from December 2019 to May 2020 to equip farmers with simple tools designed to reduce the occurrence of snakebites: boots, gloves, flashlights, and mosquito nets. The kits, each costing about 1000 rupees (£10; €11; $12), aimed to protect members of vulnerable communities from deadly encounters with snakes.Months later, however, Gnaneswar was left puzzled. The mosquito nets were being used for fishing and the boots lay untouched, gathering dust. What had gone wrong? The answer, he says, is an essential truth about public health interventions: even the best solutions can falter if they clash with local customs and practices.Culture clashIndia accounts for nearly half the global deaths from snakebite each...