Currently, across Middlewood, we have four Physician Associates working with us. Physician associates (PA’s) are medically trained, generalist healthcare professionals, who work alongside doctors and provide medical care as an integral part of the multidisciplinary team.
Physician associates are practitioners working with a dedicated medical supervisor. They work independently with appropriate support from the GPs. They are trained to perform a number of roles, including:
- take medical histories from patients
- carry out physical examinations
- see patients with long-term chronic conditions
- formulate differential diagnoses and management plans
- perform diagnostic and therapeutic procedures
- develop and deliver appropriate treatment and management plans
- request and interpret diagnostic studies
- provide health promotion and disease prevention advice for patients.
- Home Visits
- Nursing and Care Home visits
By employing Physician associates, we can increase access to quality care for patients. They act in an enabling role, helping to reduce the healthcare team’s workload and bring new talent to the NHS, adding to the skill mix within the teams.
We have worked with Physician Associates for the past five years, and they have proven to be a tremendous asset to the team.
