A newborn baby at a scandal-hit hospital was left with lifelong injuries because a doctor with just two years’ training failed to spot “worrying” signs that the child was unwell, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
The baby, born at West Suffolk Hospital, was cared for by a physician associate (PA), an NHS worker without a medical qualification whose sole purpose is to assist doctors and nurses.
They are not qualified to diagnose patients, prescribe medications or order tests and must be supervised by a physician.
However, in this case a personal assistant and a neonatal nurse were asked to check the newborn’s blood levels, and no clear signs were detected that the child was unwell.
As a result, the unidentified boy was sent home and was not visited by any doctor until he was readmitted to the hospital.
The newborn suffered “significant” injuries and faces “long-term disability” or “incapacity,” according to documents released under the Freedom of Information Act.
A newborn at West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds suffered life-long injuries because a doctor with just two years’ training failed to spot “worrying” signs that the child was unwell.
Medical assistants do not have a medical degree and are only meant to assist doctors and nurses. They are not qualified to diagnose patients, prescribe medications or order scans, and must be supervised by a physician (file photo)
The April 2021 incident occurred months before midwives at Bury St Edmunds hospital alleged a “critical” shortage of maternity staff that had led to “substandard care” for mothers and babies.
In a letter to a local newspaper published in August 2021, they said they were “overwhelmed by the unmanageable and relentless workload” and said the room felt “unsafe”.
The latest story comes after an MoS investigation this month revealed hospitals were flouting NHS rules and allowing PAs to treat seriously ill patients instead of doctors.
We found dozens of cases where hospitals have used PAs against NHS guidelines to cover for a shortage of doctors in departments such as gynaecology and A&E.
The Mail on Sunday was the first to raise the alarm about PAs last year and is running the Rein In The Physician Associates campaign.
We believe there should be strict limitations on the tasks that PAs can perform.
Following our investigation, the Government has pledged to end this practice and ensure that patients are “cared for by the appropriate and qualified healthcare professional”.
But we can now reveal that a hospital where a patient died as a result of an alleged error by a medical assistant is allowing these junior doctors to carry out potentially dangerous procedures.
PAs working in the emergency department at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading have been told they can carry out lumbar punctures, which involve inserting a long needle into the spine to look for serious diseases.
PAs working in the emergency department at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading have been told they can perform spinal taps and are approved to use a defibrillator.
They have also been approved to use a defibrillator, according to documents seen by this newspaper.
The hospital is under close scrutiny after a celebrated film makeup artist, Christopher Tucker, 81, died of sepsis in December 2022 after the personal assistant treating him failed to document that he needed antibiotics.
The General Medical Council (GMC), the public body that regulates doctors, has been asked to draw up regulations for PAs, and its guidelines are expected to be published later this year.
But the MoS understands that at a meeting with concerned patients last week, GMC chief executive Charlie Massey said he believed PAs could soon be given the power to prescribe drugs.
Experts have called on the NHS to take urgent action to tackle the growing PA crisis.
Dr Helen Fernandes, chair of the Doctors’ Association, which represents NHS doctors, warned: “The introduction of PA is an experiment being carried out before our eyes.
‘When the NHS introduces a new medicine, it undergoes rigorous safety checks before it is marketed.
“But the attending physicians are acting freely in the health service without any regulation. We don’t know what they are doing or how often they make mistakes.”
Speaking about the injured baby, Karen Newbury, director of midwifery at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, said: ‘While our teams work incredibly hard to provide all our babies and parents with the safest and highest quality care, sadly sometimes things don’t go to plan, and we would like to reiterate our sincere apologies to the family.
“We have conducted a detailed review of this event and are completing a robust improvement plan to make our services more robust and safe for future patients.”
The Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust said its PAs “operate under the supervision of medical staff” and added: “We have a clear code of practice and rigorous governance around their work.
“They are also subject to competency assessments to monitor the safety and standard of their work.”
Mr Massey said: ‘While physician associates play an important role in patient care, they are not doctors, cannot replace doctors and should never be used to fill gaps in doctors’ rotas.
‘Employers must ensure that governance structures ensure that personal assistants work under appropriate supervision.’
